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I won an unopened roll of 1962-D Franklin half dollars with a $230 bid in a HiBid.com auction. The roll was nifty enough in a Cleveland Federal Reserve wrapper. But truth be told, I bid on the lot because of the toned end coin. Here’s a photo of the roll and end coin.
Of course, I opened it. I don’t collect rolls but toned coins. To my surprise, 19 other near-pristine coins tumbled out.
I knew that the 1962-D Franklin was a common coin with a mintage of 35,473,281, the second-highest total in the series after the 1963-D at 67,069,292. I also knew that the 1962-D is a condition rarity in full bell lines (FBL) with only 553 in MS-65 through MS-66+ holders by PCGS.
NGC lists only 167 in MS-65 FBL and a mere 10 In MS-66 FBL.
PCGS defines FBL as the bottom set of lines across the Liberty Bell being “complete and uninterrupted, a regular-strike Mint State 60 or above.” Generally, the lines cannot be obscured by scratches or defects, but PCGS allows a “few marks across the lines … as long as the continuity of the lines is not disturbed.”
Here’s a video of two of my coins from the roll.
A gem (MS-65) with full bell lines retails for $350. At MS-65+, $700; MS-66, $1,600; and MS-66+, $15,000.
A recent 1962-D MS-66 in a PCGS Holder sold in a Heritage Auction for $1,320 with buyer’s premium. I’ll juxtapose the reverse of that coin (left) with mine (right).
The bottom three lines of my coin are intact with perhaps a few stray marks. My coin has some polish marks with very few dings. I’ll call it gem.
But as always with my columns, my opinion doesn’t count for much. We’ll see what PCGS and NGC say in a future column.
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