Moondoggys Franklin Proofs Set 1
1958


Obverse
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Reverse
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Coin Details

  

Set Details
Origin/Country: United States
Design Description: HALF DOLLARS - FRANKLIN, PROOF
Item Description: 50C 1958
Grade: NGC PF 66 CAMEO
Owner: moondoggy
 
Winning Set: Moondoggys Franklin Proofs Set 1
Date Added: 4/4/2012
Research: See NGC's Census Report for this Coin

Owner's Description

With a total mintage of 875,652 which was actually less than the previous year the 1958 Franklin is in its own way an odd sort of fellow. This was the year when the infamous "Milk Spots" first appeared as een in my coin. The U.S. Mint was at a loss for this phenomenon suddenly appearing in its proof strikes. Hairlines again reared its head more this year than the two previous years. The minting of the Franklin Half Dollar had many obstacles to overcome during its life cycle. Many times it was trial and error thru the years. This is why acquiring a gem level cameo is the main target of the Franklin collector. Securing an Ultra Cameo would be the equivalent of reaching the mountain top of the series.
1958 Franklins exhibiting enough cameo frost on both obverse and reverse to earn the cameo designation are scarce, and far more elusive now than six or seven years ago. Again the degree of cameo is a mismatch from obverse to reverse. The reason being that the die was "only" reworked one side at a time and not in pairs as in years before. Also to be considered is that the smaller coins minted during the years of the Franklin did not wear out the dies as quickly since the die pressure to strike the larger Franklin planchet took a greater degree of force than the lesser size coins which resulted in the dimensioning of detail on the Franklin master die. Ot does take an extended search to find Franklins that have "clean" fields which do not display the distracting "milk Spots"

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