My grades are back.

[Matt Parsons]

 

I sent in 6 coins last month for grading. I had a proof set from 1951 that i wanted to send in and a single 52 Franklin proof.

I bought the proof set locally for $500 and the 52 proof i got off of eBay for around $100, give or take 50, my memory escapes me sometimes, but i cant remember exactly what the final price was. The eBay coin was in a NumisTrust holder, or some similar no name brand TPG.When i bid on the 52, i remember the picture was just awful and i had no illusions that this was going to be a great coin. I have been buying Franklins as much as my budget allows, which isn't much at a time, so this was a great opportunity for my wife and i to get a earlier year Frankie. I remember the holder was just pressed together and popped right open when i was preparing to send them in. I really hemmed and hawed over sending it in as it was nice, but the 51 looked nicer to me untrained eye, and i just spent a small fortune (to my wife and i this is not a small amount of money) but i sent it in anyways. What another 16 dollars right?

So after waiting a month and a half i got the grades. The 51 set was very disappointing. i was so depressed as i read the grades.

 

The half...... Proof 63. OUCH!!! My heart sank. If the nicer looking Franklin is that low, the 52 must be junk right?

The quarter which was hazed over and the worst looking coin of the set... Proof 64...not bad considering the haze. I though it may come back as damaged and in a details holder.

The nickle..... Proof 64, ouch again...

The penny, which i really liked the look of..... Proof 64 RB, son of a ....

The dime....... proof 65. The high grade of the set, how sad for me right?

Oh well, i will still enjoy them, but i was not as happy as i could have been.

Now for the 52 eBay coin. Remember i have somewhere around 100 - 150 bucks invested and i almost didn't send it in.

It came back a Proof 67 cameo. Holly WOW, did i see that right? Yep !!!

Needless to say the poor taste the 51 set left was quickly forgotten.

I almost hate to admit that i am so bad at grading, i thought the 51 looked nicer and that i almost didn't send in the 52! Oh well, im honest even when its embarrassing.

What a learning experience and what a push to get my new glasses and a book on grading coins.

I'm still a little bit in disbelief.

The 52 is now the best coin, monetarily anyways, we own.

Have a great week, Matt

[Schatzy]

Great Job on the 52!! Pop 82/1

You also have to remember that on the early proofs that PF64-PF67 is the average grade.

 

[SkyMan]

Congratulations on the '52! That is a sweet pickup!

 

As to the others... well, it's a learning experience.

[James_OldeTowne]

Really, a 1951 proof set with coins averaging PF-64 is nothing to be embarrassed about! That seems to be about where most of the coins fall.

[michael]

congrats matt on the proof 67 cam franklin!!!!!

 

which service did you send the coin's into for grading??

 

i am assuming ngc??

[x2rider]

NIce Matt

 

I got hammered by my first submission to NGc . It took a while to get over that one . But got a couple of books and read some forums and now don't tend to get the nasty shocks as much .

Any Pics ?

Martin

 

[djdilliodon]

Proofs can be a bit harder to learn to grade as sometimes the imperfections are harder to spot. Get some books and keep looking at as many coins as you can! Another great way to learn and also see if you are improving, is to make a list of your coins and write down what you think they will grade. When your grades are posted you can compare and see how you do If you have an addiction for the proof franklins i recommend you stay away from the MS examples especially the ones with sweet color as they are even more addicting .

[Matt Parsons]

Thanks for all the nice comments and helpful hints. I do not have any pictures yet but you can look at the on NGC's verification. They are cert numbers 2463671 -001 to 006. I have to say NGC's pics do no justice to any of the coins Ive sent in, but you get the general idea.

I will post some later this week.

I'm ordering a few books but id like a few opinions on which are the better ones to start out with and the ones id be better staying away from.

Remember every dollar i spend on books, is less dollars for coins.

Schatzy, I guess i am happy with the grades on the 51 set, but i would have been so much happier if the half would have been a grade or two higher. The rest of the set i may sell of and reinvest in a nicer 1950 im still missing.

I do have a hundred or so MS Franklin, but the proof are where my heart is at right now. Not to say i wouldn't buy a MS coin or two if i came across the right ones, but id much rather get my 1950 proof first.

If anyone has one that they would part with please let me know what you are asking and maybe i can buy from here rather than eBay.

Have a great night everyone, Matt

 

[James_OldeTowne]

There is a lot in a certain upcoming auction that has the following included:

 

1950 Franklin half-dollar PCGS PF-65

1950 Roosevelt dime PCGS PF-66CAM

1950 Jefferson nickel PCGS PF-65

 

That would get you a nice start!

[prudden]

NIce Matt

 

I got hammered by my first submission to NGc . It took a while to get over that one . But got a couple of books and read some forums and now don't tend to get the nasty shocks as much .

Any Pics ?

Martin

 

Yeah,me too.I had too many improperly cleaned in my firsty eight coin submission.I think it was 3 of those and one altered surface.By my 3rd try I graded 11 out of 13 with the best being an 1880S bought raw that graded MS 66,a 64 Star and many 64 PL's. I can pretty much weed out what they consider cleaning and not submit those anymore.Altered surfaces is another bag of worms.And Altered color?Practice,practice, practice.

[FILTHYHOARD]

Well Gentlemen, I'm sure I'll be sharing my embarrasment within the next 2 weeks. Franklin halves are really not my specialty, but I recently purchased an original shotgun roll and submitted 5 "high grade" coins from that roll. I'm hoping my optimism matches the actual grades but I'll keep you posted as to the results.

[physics-fan3.14]

Well Gentlemen, I'm sure I'll be sharing my embarrasment within the next 2 weeks. Franklin halves are really not my specialty, but I recently purchased an original shotgun roll and submitted 5 "high grade" coins from that roll. I'm hoping my optimism matches the actual grades but I'll keep you posted as to the results.

 

What was the date?

[FILTHYHOARD]

Well Gentlemen, I'm sure I'll be sharing my embarrasment within the next 2 weeks. Franklin halves are really not my specialty, but I recently purchased an original shotgun roll and submitted 5 "high grade" coins from that roll. I'm hoping my optimism matches the actual grades but I'll keep you posted as to the results.

 

What was the date?

 

It was sold to me tails/tails Jason and when I opened it up, 1963.

FBL? Probably not , but I feel one has a shot.

[physics-fan3.14]

If you get a 65FBL, you scored pretty big. Even a 64FBL is hard to get. Those 60's Frankies are very tough in gem!

[Schatzy]

Well Gentlemen, I'm sure I'll be sharing my embarrasment within the next 2 weeks. Franklin halves are really not my specialty, but I recently purchased an original shotgun roll and submitted 5 "high grade" coins from that roll. I'm hoping my optimism matches the actual grades but I'll keep you posted as to the results.

 

Good Luck....either way it will be a nice learning experience.

[FILTHYHOARD]

Jason, I know getting a high grade '63 FBL is VERY difficult, but I'll remain optimistic !!

Jaime, I have my fingers crossed too, but as long as I learn something (other than learn that I'm horrible at grading ) I'm happy. Thanks

[Matt Parsons]

Here are a few pics of the 52.

Ill try to get a few better ones this weekend, and ill post the 51 set as well.

Good luck on the FBL's, NGC is hard on them, but i guess that's why we all want them so much. It is a double edge sword. We love that they grade hard, we all want the rare grades, and we get upset when we don't get them. Why do we punish ourselves so much?

I think the thrill of the hunt is, more than anything else, what i love. The suspense of waiting for the coins to go through the different grading processes, waiting to see the grades, then to look at the pictures.... ohhh what fun.

Maybe next time i will wait until the package arrives to further the thrill of the moment and pull them out one at a time instead of looking online every few hours.

Yeah, im hooked.

 

.

Have a great week, Matt

 

obverse

 

[Matt Parsons]

What do you all think the weak strike and lack of detail in the Eagle played in the grading ??

Do any of you see any other problems that count against a better grade?

Thanks for your opinions, Matt

[djdilliodon]

What do you all think the weak strike and lack of detail in the Eagle played in the grading ??

Do any of you see any other problems that count against a better grade?

Thanks for your opinions, Matt

 

No one will be able to tell what held that coin back from going higher than a 67 from a picture. Those kinds of flaws you will only see with the coin in hand and a loupe!

[Schatzy]

What do you all think the weak strike and lack of detail in the Eagle played in the grading ??

Do any of you see any other problems that count against a better grade?

Thanks for your opinions, Matt

 

Proofs are way too hard to grade by a photo.

They have only graded 1 at the 68 level so more than likely there is something holding all 82 back from 68.

[Matt Parsons]

Here is why I asked about the Eagles details.

This is the 1951 that came back PF63 I see there is almost no detail in the eagle and i assume this was from a weak strike? I was thinking this must have had a major factor in the grade. It looks nicer than a lot of the higher graded proof coins i have, so im looking for the reasons why it scored lower.

Thanks again for any input.

Sincerely, Matt

 

 

 

 

Here is the front.

 

[James_OldeTowne]

That is a great image, and reveals the hairlines in the fields that would automatically limit the grade to no higher than PF-64. I would assume there are additional hairlines not showing in the image that take it further down to PF-63.

[physics-fan3.14]

Strike is not generally taken into account when TPG's grade, even though it should be. Your Franklin is much more likely to have hairlines and marks than to have been discounted for strike. Congrats on the other one though!

[Matt Parsons]

Thank you both for your honest opinions. I admit i have much to learn and i thank people like you for making that possible. This site, and the people who make up its membership, are truly an asset to the coin collecting world.

Thanks again, Matt

[FILTHYHOARD]

Well guys, it's official!!

I don't know squat about grading Franklin halves!!!

I just checked my order status & received the grades online.

I knew getting any FBL's would be difficult, so I wasn't really disappointed as far as that goes. Out of the 5 coins I sent in. (all 1963 Philly Franklins) I expected , well more like HOPED for ,

2)MS66

3)MS65 (one of them with an outside shot at FBL)

Here's how they actually graded out

2)MS65

2)MS64

and 1) BB-- Obverse wheel mark??? (whatever the heck that is)

Needless to say, it's been a humbling learning experience & I basically overgraded each coin by 1 point.

Oh well, you live & learn

[James_OldeTowne]

Oh well, you live & learn

And, learning is probably the best part of living!

[FILTHYHOARD]

Oh well, you live & learn

And, learning is probably the best part of living!

 

Couln't have said it better myself

[Jim Beam]

James, would you tell us where the hairlines are on this coin? I am asking so I can understand better what to look for (I am not seeing them) and it may be of value to others also. Thanks for your opinion and expertise.

 

Jim