The Highest-End Proof Franklin Half Dollars
We have written about the Franklin half dollar series before. It would actually be surprising if we had not, since they are one of only a few classic United States silver series that we can say have been collector favorites for decades – alongside the Walking Liberty halves, plus the Morgan and Peace dollars. We have talked about them as proof pieces and found that there are indeed some that are under-valued. But we have yet to focus a lens where we are going to do so right now: at the very uppermost flakes of the upper crust. Let’s examine the proofs at grades of which many folks only dream. After all, we have a closed series of classic United States silver for which proofs were minted only from 1950 to 1963.
The PF-67DC Grade
As we begin, let’s lay out one idea that should be apparent to us all: we are going to be focused on certified coins exclusively. We’re going to simply ignore any piece that has not been slabbed. Even if we love raw coins, even if we fancy ourselves the person who can tell the difference between something like an MS-65 and an MS-66 every single time we look at and compare a couple, for this type of collecting we should be getting the assurance that any coin certified by the reputable grading services provides. It’s essential here. It also gives us some comfort should we ever decide to sell one of these beauties. With this being said, the standard price lists, including those in issues of Numismatic News and other publications, indicate that a Franklin half dollar has a standard price of about $250 in the excellent grade of PF-67. When this is shown as PF-67C, the “C” means Cameo, and when it lists as PF-67DC the “DC” means Deep Cameo. However they are listed, though, all three versions of a PF-67 are going to be excellent coins. It will also be up to each of us as to whether or not we wish to pay a premium for that “DC” designator since the plain old PF-67 is hardly going to be considered ugly.
Diving a little deeper into these upper levels of proof, and getting away from the standard references, we end up at the “store” that never closes, eBay. To figure out what a Franklin half dollar goes for in this grade, we can just type in “Franklin half dollars – proof-67.” That does the trick with most items and doesn’t fail us here. Curiously, a recent search turned up a 1961 for $35 with a “b.i.n.” next to it, meaning “buy it now.” There’s no typo here; someone appears to be selling this high-end piece for only $35. Continuing the search brought up a 1963 for $50, again with a b.i.n. It appears there are some amazing bargains to be found here, assuming the sellers do not withdraw their coins prior to a sale. As well, these price tags are below the $100 point we often draw as far as what we are comfortable spending.
It’s fair to look at these prices, then check the mintages, and realize that for both the 1961 and the 1963, there were more than 3 million proofs made. This makes them a very common couple of proofs. But even if something like 30,000 of them were certified as PF-67, that’s only 1 percent of the total. That’s rare. And that in turn makes the prices we mentioned bargains, indeed.
Moving Up, PF-68
There does not seem to be a standard print or web-based price list that includes Franklin half dollars in the PF-68 grade. It appears that this is a bit too high for most collectors or dealers to worry about. So, sticking with the sellers of eBay, we came to a 1956 with a price of $57 next to it, including a b.i.n. Again we seem to have found some bargain among bargains. Not to be outdone, there was also a 1961 that was listed at $75, although without a b.i.n. next to it. Thus, this price might rise as its sell-by date nears. But right now, it too qualifies as an astonishing bargain.
The Crème de la Crème, the PF-69
As Mr. Ripley used to say, “believe it or not,” there are several PF-69 Franklin half dollars that get listed within the ranks of eBay items. Coins at this level get all sorts of praise in their descriptions, with perhaps the most romantic being a term used in some European catalogs: fleur de coin. A couple of recent searches on eBay turned up a quartet of fleurs, as it were, a 1955, a 1956, a 1959 and one 1961. The highest price tag was $325, while the lowest was an eyebrow-raising $200. If these do not disappear before the close of their sales windows, their sell-by date, these have got to qualify as some of the biggest bargains we have ever run across.
Collecting High-End Proofs, Overall?
We have mentioned before that when collecting proofs, some of them end up being bargains because a proof is not required to complete a collection. Key dates may have larger mintages, yet still cost more than such proofs because everyone collecting a specific series wants that key. But here we have found that there are proof 50-cent pieces sporting Doctor Franklin’s head at grades that we only consider common among modern commemorative coins. They don’t cost a fortune. They are absolutely gorgeous. And if we manage to snag one on eBay, they can be all ours.