Incredibly
colorful and unique 1963 Franklin 50C Double Mint Error NGC
MS67 RB Click on Coin Image to
enlarge
Incredibly
colorful and unique 1963 Franklin 50C Double Mint Error
NGC MS67 RB
- $22,750.00
1963
Half Dollar Double Mint Error - 1963 Franklin 50C
Double Mint Error NGC MS67 RB. This coin is exceptionally
rare because it combines two mint errors on one piece.
Each is a rare error coin in its own right. According
to Brown, Camire, and Weinberg in 100 Greatest U.S.
Error Coins, ALL Franklin Half Dollars struck on cent,
nickel and dime planchets are very rare, but they
are referring to regular strikes not brockages and
not including a "Double mint Error" such
as this incredibly toned gem specimen. No doubt the
present piece is unique because of its superb condition
and the combination of errors. An incredible numismatic
oddity and one that once the new owner has time to
reflect on the impossibility of ever replacing, may
be off the market for our lifetimes. Truly one of
a kind and wonderful.
Please contact
me by email
or telephone 1-941-291-2156
to reserve this great coin.
This spectacular,
rare 1963 Half Dollar Error is a wrong planchet coin
struck with a reverse mirror brockage. Weighing 3
grams, the piece is close enough to the 3.11 that
is standard for the Lincoln cent of 1963. It is a
lustrous Red and Brown piece with significant amounts
of mint red on the obverse, less so on the reverse.
The strike is sharp
on the obverse with full details on the lines of Franklin’s
lower hair. The surfaces are original and clean with
no abrasions visible without magnification. Because
of the size difference between a cent and a half dollar,
many of the obverse details are missing. We do not
have the top of Franklin’s head or the word
LIBERTY. We see just the top of the N in IN and are
missing the lower parts of GOD. The same is true for
TRUST with more of the letters missing as we move
from the bottom upward. On the reverse we have an
enlarge mirror image of the obverse. None of the legends
remain and only the 196 of the date are strong. The
3 is visible at the left edge of the coin. A wrong
planchet error takes place when a planchet from one
denomination is fed into a coining press for another
denomination. In this case, a Lincoln cent planchet
was accidently fed into a press that was set up for
coining Franklin halves. The weight of the coin is
correct for the Lincoln cent.
A brockage takes place when a struck
coin is not properly ejected from the coining chamber
and remains either loose or as a reverse die cap.
The next planchet receives a correct impression from
the obverse die and incuse mirror-image strike on
its reverse. In this case, if the Lincoln cent planchet
were not in the coining chamber, the next half dollar
would have been a mirror-image strike as the reverse
of a regular half dollar coin.Franklin Half dollars
were made from 1948 to 1963. They were designed by
John R.Sinnock, the U.S. Mint chief engraver. In 1942
Sinnock developed a design for a new silver half-dime,
which was intended to replace the five cent nickel
coin because nickel was a war time strategic metal.
Instead the War Nickels were made of a copper-silver-manganese
alloy. The half-dime concept was not accepted for
regular coinage, but the design eventually was. The
obverse showed a bust of Benjamin Franklin, similar
to the one used for the half dollar. The reverse had
a Liberty Bell, an eagle, an ear of corn, and a V
with oak leaves nearby.
When the decision was made to introduce
a new design for the half dollar, Sinnock borrowed
heavily from his earlier works. The obverse came from
the half-dime concept, and the reverse from the reverse
of the Sesquicentennial of American Independence Half
Dollar of 1926, which was also designed by Sinnock.
This design was taken from a sketch by artist John
Fredric Lewis; however, Sinnock did not give him credit
for it.
The coin shows a close portrait of
Franklin in profile facing right, which was modeled
after a bust of him by the famous sculptor Jean-Antoine
Houdon. Above his head is LIBERTY, and IN GOD WE TRUST
is below. The date is in the right field between his
chin and chest. The reverse shows a large Liberty
Bell showing its crack. UNITED STATES oF AMERICA is
in an arc above, and the denomination written as HALF
DOLLAR is below. To the left of the bell is the motto
E PLURIBUS UNUM in small letters balanced by a small
eagle, which was not part of the original design,
to the right. The coin was made in 90 percent silver
and has a reeded edge.
Nellie Tayloe Ross, the Mint Director,
had much admired Benjamin Franklin and wanted him
to be shown on a circulating coin. She told Sinnock
to prepare designs for the half dollar. Unfortunately
he died before the process was completed, and Gilroy
Roberts, his assistant and successor finished the
work, which included adding the eagle to the reverse.
The Commission of Fine Arts disapproved of the diminutive
eagle and felt that showing the crack in the Liberty
Bell would be a source of ridicule. Despite this disapproval,
the Mint followed Sinnock’s designs.
