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the nation. Subsequent population reports emanating from PCGS will reveal how very scarce the majority of proof issues are in cameo. With the release of the cameo proof book, and didrachm with PCGS'' and NGC''s leap into this market, cameo dealers and collectors will now have accurate, hard data with the release of these services'' didrachm grading reports to back up what we long-time cameo dealers and collectors have known for years - that exceptional cameo examples of many dates are extremely rare, and are truly among the best values in U.S. numismatics today. Most collectors and dealers are didrachm very familiar with BU Franklins. The majority of uncirculated BU Franklin half dollars on the market are extremely baggy, and/or possess very heavy, unattractive brown or gray toning. These are didrachm ugly coins. The Franklin design is a work of art in its simplicity. The bust of Franklin on the obverse, and the famous Liberty bell on the reverse, are beautiful when their surfaces are clear and unblemished! In addition, many Franklins were issued by the mint in cardboard mint sets. The sulfur from these paper products often created some of the most beautifully toned coins in all of U.S. coinage! While rare, gem Franklin halves

of BU Franklins I acquired, 100 rolls of 1963-D''s, a total of 2,000 coins, resulted in financial disaster for me and my partner. Oh, the bag quantity was original all right. All the rolls were in their original bank-wrappings, and had obviously never been unwrapped. The coins in these rolls were beautiful, bright blazers. We submitted the 125+ nicest coins to PCGS and NGC for grading, figuring if we got 40 or 50 MS 65''s we''d make a profit. The result? 5 MS 65''s!! The rest graded either MS 64 or MS 63. Why? The majority had a couple too many bag marks (a common problem with BU Franklins), or had a bit too much pitting on the high-points of the devices (another common problem with BU Franklins), or were too softly struck to grade MS 65 (another common problem with BU Franklins, or finally, had some very light hairline scratches, the result of having passed through a coin counter! By comparison, a single roll of late date Walking Liberty half dollars would likely have more gems among the 20 coins than the 1963-D Franklins did among the 2,000. Despite having populations a fraction of the Walking Liberty halves in gem condition, gem Franklins are currently priced well below the levels Walkers are currently selling at. Additionally, if one wishes to compare the populations of untoned, brilliant MS 65 Walkers to untoned, brilliant MS 65 Franklins, the population differences are even more striking in favor of the Franklins!

packaging used for these earlier coins, it almost seems a miracle that any high quality cameos from the 1950 to 1970 era exist at all! The finest cameos, being early strikes off proof dies, are quite simply "the best of the best", for they are not only struck from proof dies, the finest possible dies, but are struck from those dies didrachm when they are in their most pristine, unworn state! There could not be a more striking difference between one of these first cameo strikes, and between a coin struck much later off the die - a brilliant proof. If one did not know better, one would think that the two coins were struck from two completely different dies! In a sense, they were. More correctly, they were both struck from the same die, but one coin was struck before that die had experienced the wearing effect of 100''s of tons of pressure of metal on metal, and one coin was struck after that die had experienced those wearing effects. The opportunity of owning scarce, attractive coins that also are the ultimate in quality for their era has a very special appeal to collectors. It also gives these coins tremendous "upside" potential, as it very hard to pay too much for coins that offer the collector the

Click here - Numismatics! Your reputable online source for distinguished rare and collectors coins and proof sets is just one click away! Click HERE to browse our extensive catalog of rare coins, complete sets, proofs, uncirculated sets and get reliable market information also!

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