Proof cam / dcam franklins...
Rob85635
Posts: 1,230 ✭✭✭
Can they still be found legitimately in the wild? Yes we all know of the "sealed proof set could contain a cameo franklin" auctions on ebay and we all know how that works, but is there a legitimate source for buying a really sealed proof set from the Franklin years? I was just reading another thread with a dcam proof franklin picture and I must say, there is almost nothing in the world more beautiful, except my wife of course.
Rob the Newbie
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U.S. Type Set
"Keep your malarkey filter in good operating order" -Walter Breen
2 came from a local dealer in Philly. & the others came from a pawnshop.
I have a sealed box of 10 1958 sets. debating to sell the box or break them open.
Ike Specialist
Finest Toned Ike I've Ever Seen, been looking since 1986
it's important to remember that Cameo and Deep Cameo Franklin Half-Dollars never existed in large numbers to begin with, so when you hear of how difficult it is to find them just remember that it always has been that way. i made a 68UCAM from a 1955 flat pack about six months ago and i believe MadMarty did the same or better with a 1963, so just keep looking. the DCAM coins show up in the most unexpected places, not just the Franklins. we bought a nice Roosevelt Dime set yesterday in a Dansco folder that i was flipping through. in the 1957 hole it appears to have a DCAM Proof instead of an MS issue, not a big dollar coin but a nice suprise just the same.
But cameos in the wild are on the endangered species list.
“In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock." - Thomas Jefferson
My digital cameo album 1950-64 Cameos - take a look!
If you really like these coins and start looking for them raw, you will accumulate quite a few of them (along with Cameo proof and SMS coins of other series and denominations). From the mid-late 70's forward, the mint's production technology became better and more cameos resulted, to the point where today all proofs from the Mint are DCAM gems, all very common.
From 1970 on back Cameos are much harder to find.
When you start out you will get excited at any clean coin that has frosted devices. As you look at and acquire more of these coins you will develope a better eye for quality. The coins you loved when you first acquired them will eventually look not so nice as you remember. The devices will not have the thick frost you thought it did and the fields will look not so deep, watery and mirrored.
You will find that with a glance you can tell if a Cameo is a run of the mill Cameo or if it is one that screams high grade CAM or possibly even DCAM at you.
After you develop an eye for really, really nice Cameos, you will then appreciate much more just how difficult it is to find a high grade Cameo or DCAM coin.
" as of 1991, I would estimate that 85% to 95% of all original proof sets from 1950-1964 have been searched for cameo coinage.
If one finds a proof set from this era in a dealers coin shop or at a coin show, the chances are it has been inspected at least
20 - 30 times by various individuals for cameos. "
One feller , Kirk Harris , spent the better part of ten years ( 1979-1989) looking at many hundreds of thousands of proof coins :
he never found a superb cameo 1950,1951,1952,1953,1955, 1957,1958,1959,1960 or 1961 Franklin !
While it might seem that such coins are not to rare considering the sheer numbers of them available in the current marketplace -
do not be mislead into thinking there still out there to be found .
You might hear of someone finding one somewhere , but the odds you will find one are extremely low
With a minute to go , the price tag was 857. Although I already have one in my registry set,
I could not resist bidding and trying a quick flip, but got out bid with 8 seconds to go.
$1,300 is a far cry from the Numis. price tag of $4300!
Someone got one heck of a deal @ this level!