Franklin Half Dollar Series,
Business Strikes

Overview of the Series

For the third design of the half dollar in the 20^th century, Benjamin Franklin was chosen to replace the Walking Liberty design. This was a fairly short-lived series, lasting only from 1948-1963, a total of 26 years inclusive. The obverse features a portrait of Franklin that's rather difficult to photograph well due to the angles and relief of the nose-cheek-mouth area.

The reverse of all denominations including and larger than 25¢ is mandated by law to have a bald eagle. However, Franklin did not want the eagle to be the national bird, rather he wanted the turkey. Taking both Franklin's wishes and the law into account, the designer placed the Philadelphia Liberty Bell as the prominent feature on the reverse along with a small depiction of the bald eagle.

Coins in the Set

A complete set of business-strike Franklins comprises 35 coins without varieties - a reasonably short set with no great rarities that can easily be obtained by even a modest collector. Proofs number an additional 14 (15 if you count the Type 1 and Type 2 1956 coins). At the moment, I am just trying to collect the business-strike set.

Options in Collecting the Set

A trick to collecting Franklin halves is that, besides the standard numerical grade, coins are also categorized as to whether or not the lines on the bottom of the Liberty Bell are fully separated. Weaker strikes will have them mushed together (as in the bands on the reverse of the Mercury Dime and Roosevelt Dime, as well as the steps on Montecello on the Jefferson Nickel).

If the lines on the Bell are separated, the designation "Full Bell Lines," or "FBL" for short are added. FBL coins can be significantly more expensive than non-FBLs, commanding about 3-5x the price on average, or up to 10x (for 1962) or even 300x (for 1953-S in MS-66 vs MS-66FBL).

Note that the two main grading companies - NGC and PCGS - define "FBL" differently. PCGS in this rare case is actually less strict than NGC, requiring only the bottom three bell lines to be fully separated. NGC requires all three bottom and three top lines to be separated fully before they will give the FBL designation. As a consequence, NGC "FBL" Franklin halves will usually command a higher price than their PCGS counterparts.

My Collecting Goal

I have chosen to collect a set of business strikes at the MS-64FBL grade. If I ever decide to include proofs, I will likely aim for PR-64DC, as well. Of course, for the incredibly expensive examples, such as the two I quoted above, I will settle for non-FBL examples but still stick with MS-64. This set is likely to run around $1000 to complete in that grade.

A Note on the Photographs: Because I'm collecting these in PCGS slabs, it is very difficult to take good photos of the coins because (1) I'm photographing through thick plastic, and (2) that plastic is scratched and has dust that accumulates no matter how many times I wipe it off. So keep in mind that the actual coins look better than the photographs make them out to be.

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