Owner Comments:
1959 was the first date for which the mint used the cellophane “flatpack” for mint sets instead of the cardboard holders. This means that this issue is the first for which untoned coins are more common than toned ones. Very nice color coins from this point on are very scarce. Luster is usually very good on the 1959, but the strike is usually among the worst of the P mints. Tomaska compares this issue with the 1957 and 1958 Philadelphia mint issues, although I think the 1958 is easier, and the 1957 much harder. It is worth noting that by this point, the master die had deteriorated to the point where it was re-engraved next year. This was the final year to use the original master. Bagmarks tend to be about average. Tomaska often describes issues in the Franklin series as “underrated” or having great potential, it is almost cliché with him. However, for this issue, I agree with him.
My 1959P is a very nice MS-65 W FBL. The luster is very bright and very flashy. The strike is very good for the issue, but by this point most of the fine detail has been abraded from the master. There is virtually no hair detail, although the three wisps of hair are still identifiable. Pass and Stow is hard to distinguish, but the bell lines are definitely full. This coin is bright white, very nice and clean. There are only a couple of minor water spots around the edges on the reverse.
Some collectors, a very small minority, are beginning to collect the actual slab a coin is in. Slabs are an important part of numismatic history, having completely revolutionized the coin collecting hobby when they were introduced in the mid 1980’s. Over time, as technology has advanced, the designs of the slab and the materials used have been changed by the third party graders. Certain slab varieties can be very scarce or hard to find, and collectors will pay a premium for it.
Early slabs are especially popular. The first generations of slabs from each of the major companies are very scarce, and will generally garner a large premium from certain collectors. For example, the PCGS rattlers are becoming increasingly scarce. The earliest PCGS slabs had stickers printed on an old dot matrix printer, and look distinctively ancient. Another popular PCGS slab is the “doily,” so named because the sticker has numerous little lacy looking circles on it. NGC has the “no line fatties,” so named because they were slightly thicker than the current slab and did not have a dividing line between the identification sticker and the coin. Also very popular are the old ANACS photo-certificates, before physical slabs came about.
I mention all this because my coin is holdered in a scarce NGC slab variety. Michael Schmidt, aka Conder101, a prominent and knowledgeable collector on the NGC boards and elsewhere on the internet, has pioneered research in the field of slab varieties. He has cataloged all the known slab varieties of all known slab issuers, including the most minute third world graders. He even wrote a book on the subject a couple of years ago. By his numbering system, my Franklin is in an NGC8 slab. This is immediately and easily distinguished by the identification sticker, pictured below. The serial number has been shrunk down and squeezed under the barcode. This proved to be very unpopular, and the slab was only issued for about four weeks in August and September of 2000.
When I asked him about this slab variety, he told me that many slab collectors are willing to pay a small premium for this variety. He says that although it is scarce, the NGC8 variety can still be found without a premium with enough searching. Indeed, I bought this coin without even knowing about the slab varieties, and paid no premium for it at all. Michael added that this variety has the key factors that make a slab variety collectible – “it is instantly visually distinctive, it was disliked when it was produced, and it was produced for a very short time. So a relatively small number were made, people didn't like it so they cracked out, resubmitted, or reholdered, and it is noticeable. When people see it, it attracts attention. They may not know instantly what is different about it but they do notice that it "doesn't look right".” If slab collecting continues to grow in popularity, this variety will be one that will garner a decent premium.
I got an amazing deal on this coin, with the scarce slab and all, at $95 on Ebay in October, 2008.
Notable events in 1959:
Fidel Castro completes his takeover of Cuba.
Charles De Gaulle is inaugurated as the first president of France’s Fifth Republic.
Lee Petty wins the first Daytona 500.
The Barbie Doll debuts.
The Dalai Lama leaves Tibet.
Hawaii is admitted as the 50th US State.
The first known human with HIV dies in Congo.