PCGS Full Bell Lines on Franklin Half Dollars

Franklin Half Dollars are certainly one of the most widely collected series in the canon of mid-20th century U.S. coinage. With a run of just 16 years and spawning but 35 regular-issue business-strike coins, the Franklin Half Dollar is among the more affordable series out there, yet it also offers its challenges. To be sure, there is the series key date in the 1949-S, tough varieties that include the 1961 Doubled Die Reverse Proof, and a bevy of other intriguing oddities. Then there are the conditional rarities, and these can be found across the series and represent exciting challenges for collectors with deeper pockets.

In the Franklin Half Dollar series, conditional rarities are usually located in the MS65 to MS67 neighborhood, depending on the date. Then there are the Franklin halves with Full Bell Lines, commonly abbreviated “FBL” in the numismatic lexicon. The FBL Franklin Half Dollars are among the most coveted, as they represent the best, fullest strike – something that relatively few Franklin business-strikes exhibit. It’s tough to find a business-strike Franklin Half Dollar with complete details, including the horizontal lines near the base of the Liberty Bell visage on the reverse. A business-strike Franklin Half Dollar with Full Bell Lines is the epitome of quality in this series, and for some dates it’s a detail that’s virtually impossible to find.

Here are the qualifications for Full Bell Lines as described in the PCGS Rare Coin Market Report grading designations:

• PCGS designates Full Bell Lines for Franklin Half Dollars that grade MS60 or better and show full separation of the lines on the bottom of the Liberty Bell on the reverse. To qualify for this designation, a coin must also show no major disturbances, including cuts and marks, of the separation of the bell lines.

Meeting those guidelines can be difficult, for even a well-struck Franklin Half Dollar with clearly defined, crisp detail can be demoted from FBL status due to an obscuring bag mark or other surface imperfections accrued after the coin’s striking. The many factors that can siphon Franklin halves away from achieving an FBL designation in part explain why so few of these coins ever earn the mark. Of course, more systemic issues relating to strike are other factors.

For example, the 1953-S Franklin Half Dollar is characteristically elusive with Full Bell Lines, especially in a base grade of MS65 or better. PCGS has graded only 25 specimens in MS65FBL, just two each at the MS65+FBL and MS66 thresholds, and only one at MS67FBL, the finest grade for this date. The all-time-record price for the 1953-S Full Bell Lines Half Dollar was hammered at a 2001 Bowers & Merena sale, when a specimen graded PCGS MS66FBL traipsed across the auction block for a cool $69,000.