Superb Franklin half dollars Shatter Price Records in Auctions and Private Transactions
The biggest coin show of the year just concluded, and one of the featured auction houses offered two important key date Franklin half dollars – a 1950 graded PR 67+ CAMEO by PCGS, and a 1951 graded PF 67 ULTRA CAMEO by NGC.
Neither coin was unique. The 1950 was a population 3 coin at PCGS, with 2 additional examples graded by NGC, and 2 graded higher in PF 68 CAMEO. The 1951 was a population 7 coin by NGC, with another 2 graded by PCGS with 1 higher in PR67+ DCAM.
In other words, neither coin was “finest known” or tied for finest known, according to the latest PCGS and NGC population reports, but they were near the top in quality for their respective issues and very rare as such.
Important to note, I knew some clients were bidding on these two coins, so I backed out. In both cases, I believe the bidder would have topped an even higher bid if I had put in a bid. In other words, both coins could have realized a hammer 20% higher than even these new record prices!
Both coins absolutely decimated … shattered … the previous auction records for coins in this grade:
1950 Franklin PCGS PR 67+ Cameo
Previous auction record: $18,800
New record: $40,800
A side note, the coin that just sold for $40,800 is not recently graded. It was graded several years ago by PCGS.
1951 Franklin NGC PF 67 ULTRA Cameo
Previous auction record: $17,250
New record: $33,600
In private transaction in the past 90 days, two additional records were set:
1958 Franklin NGC PF 69 Ultra Cameo
$45,000+
Highest grade, 1 of 4, NGC and PCGS combined
1953 Franklin NGC PF 68 Ultra Cameo
$84,000+
Highest grade, 1 of 3, NGC and PCGS combined. This coin is off the top die for the year, #17 in the Cameo book.
This is a new price record for a proof Franklin half dollar, breaking the old record for a 1951 PCGS PR67+DCAM that sold in auction for $82,250.