Red-Hot Franklins at F.U.N.!

The PCGS Price Guide listed the value of the 1956 Type 1 Franklin PR 68 DEEP CAMEO at $8,000 at the time of the auction. I don’t know where that number came from.The NGC Price Guide, Numismedia, lists the value of the 1956 Type 1 Franklin PR 68 DEEP ULTRA CAMEO at $20,800.

The NGC Price Guide is closer to the mark on this coin. But there are many, many issues which the Numismedia is also way off target on. In defense of the NGC and PCGS Price Guides, many of their values are taken from auction records; these are often not a good barometer in determining a particular issue’s value in a given grade. It has been my experience that many of the high grade cameo proof coins that do appear in auction are often impaired – spotted to some degree – which is probably why they are in auction and not sold directly to a collector in a dealer-collector transaction.

Not too long ago I bid a very strong number in auction on a 1960 Franklin PCGS PR 68 DEEP CAMEO as it looked quite nice in the picture….however, computer images do not always reveal the tiny imperfections that are visible when one can view that same coin in one’s hand under a halogen light!

In the case of this 1960, when I received the coin, I discovered small white toning spots that were not easily visible in the computer image. I sent the coin to PCGS for review, and it came back PR 66 DEEP CAMEO – a drop of TWO grade points, and about a $2,500 difference in value! I’m taking quite a hit on that coin. But I would rather lose money on the coin than sell it in the old PR68DCAM holder to an unsuspecting, trusting collector. Your trust counts for A LOT, folks! I value it most highly!!! 

Well, there was a 1956 Type 1 Franklin PCGS PR 68 DEEP CAMEO that not to my surprise realized $19,550 at the Heritage auction at the recently concluded Florida United Numismatists show!

That’s 2½ times the PCGS Price Guide Value!

And…I was the under-bidder on that 1956 Type 1 PR 68 DEEP CAMEO! The ONLY reason I did not bid higher is because I was not able to attend the auction to personally view the coin. Once again, I had to rely on the computer image. Taking a hit on a 1960 Franklin PR68DCAM that turned out to be spotted hurts. A 1956 Type 1 that I would pay over 20k for, which could have similar issues as that 1960, would hurt a lot more!

But if that coin was truly Proof 68 and truly DEEP CAMEO, I would have bid close to $30,000……because a true 1956 Type 1 PR 68 DEEP CAMEO is a $30,000 to $40,000 coin!

So congratulations to the bidder who won the coin, if you are reading this newsletter! I hope the coin is everything the grade says it is. If it is you got a GREAT deal!

The 1956 Type 1 Franklin is but one example of superb Franklin half dollars and early Kennedy half dollars that are red hot, and whose values are increasing on an almost monthly basis. This is one of the reasons Whitman asked me to write the revised second edition of “A Guide Book to Franklin and Kennedy Half Dollars”.

The PCGS and NGC Price Guides are playing catch-up!

Warmest regards,

Rick Tomaska

Everest Selections

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