Owner Comments:
A differentiation must be made between a good strike and full details in the Franklin series. On Franklins, due to the rapid deterioration of the master die, a good strike does not imply full details – it only implies good details for the date and issue. The 1948, being the first in the series, almost always comes with full details, even with a weaker strike, but the vagaries and variabilities of striking still remain. Thus, a coin not fully struck will exhibit far more details than its counterpart from ten years later, but will be somewhat below its sister 1948 coins. This is why a very large percentage of 1948 Franklins are FBL, because even with a weaker strike, the bell line detail is still present. The most common indicator of a weaker strike is what Tomaska calls “high point pitting.” When the force on the planchet is insufficient to cause metal to flow into all the deepest recesses of the die, the high points of the coin appear shiny or uneven. The places to look for this are towards the bottom of the bell, and on Franklin’s cheek and jawbone. This is an indicator of a weaker strike, and will tend to limit the grade and any FBL designation. Severe high point pitting will limit the grade to 64, but minor pitting is allowable on a 65. Avoiding pitting is difficult because it is so common.
The 1954S is one of those very difficult coins, and is no exception to the San Francisco fate of being weakly struck. Ehrmantraut even goes so far as to say that the 1954S was originally considered to be the scarcest S mint in FBL, before the extreme scarcity of the 1953S FBL was appreciated. Unlike most weakly struck bell lines however, the problem on the 1954S is actually the top set of lines. Normally, high point pitting and an incomplete strike will wipe out the bell lines, as they are one of the high points of the coin. On the 1954S, it appears that the detail was worn from the hub and so only the freshest dies would strike FBL coins. Tomaska estimates that no more than 5% of gems qualify for FBL, and I personally think even that number is high. The 1954S is the last of the S mint Franklins, and was the ending of an era at the San Francisco mint.
Besides their weak strike, there are a couple of other things that make the 1954S interesting. They are generally among the best handled coins of the Franklin series, which means that bagmarks are usually very few. Luster tends to be above average, and color is usually an average golden brown. This is the easiest date of the whole series to obtain in gem brilliant condition, but with full bell lines it is one of the hardest.
This gorgeous gem is fully flashy and brilliantly white. A small but unfortunately placed spot is right on Franklin’s cheek, and there are two or three pinpoint water spots on the reverse above DOLLAR, but other than that there are hardly any marks or detractions at all. It is a very solid, premium 65. The strike is average to above average – the obverse has a great strike, with the three wisps of hair clearly defined. This is unusual for an S mint Franklin, as some argue that these wisps of hair are actually a better indication of full strike than the bell lines actually are. The reverse is typical of the ‘54S, in that the bell lines are technically complete, but not close to full as would be defined on some other dates. Also, as expected, there is significant weakness in the upper right quadrant of the bell lines, to the point where they are almost indistinguishable. This is a borderline FBL example, but given the characteristics of the date I believe it qualifies. I got this gem from Teletrade for (hold your breath) $400. This is one of my most expensive Franklins, but it is worth it for this beauty. It upgrades a 64FBL that had significant water spotting issues.
Music in 1954:
Bill Haley and His Comets record "Rock Around the Clock"
Les Paul commissions Ampex to build the first eight track tape recorder, at his own expense.
The Chordettes’ “Mr. Sandman” and Rosemary Clooney’s “Hey There” and “This Ole House” top the charts, along with Doris Day’s “Secret Love.”