Advice For Collecting Franklin Halves

and keep us posted with your progress. Franklin is a great set to start with!

Welcome to the world of Bens!

Here is my simple and honest advice. Buy a dansco album and fill it with the coins that appeal to you. Don't shoot for a grade, shoot for a "look" at a price reasonable to you.

If you come across a slabbed coin or two, pick them up if you like them, then use them to work on your eye and grading skills.

No raw coin in this set will bust your budget, but it is a real thrill to finish.

Your taste and eye will become much more polished and you can decide if you enjoy raw coins, slabbed coins, toners, FBL etc.

Personally, I did this and finished my first dansco. I then moved onto slabbed proofs, minimum grade of 65cameo, and am also working on my second dansco.

At this point, don't worry as much about grades or investments. Learn the series and familiarize yourself with the coins you're attracted to... Over time you will figure out which direction you want to go!

Enjoy.

Forgot I already posted here - but thought of a couple more:

The clash known as a Bugs Bunny occurs in more than just the 1955, although the 1955 is typically the only one widely known. These can be fun to look for. Coop has a great graphic in a thread on some of the other dates (use search).








My local coin shop has a large ebay following as well. I implicitly trust this guy. He is the only dealer I ever knew who, when I bought a nicer coin from him, told me the slab number he had broken it out of so I could look it up on the auction he won it from!

His ebay name is oozentoo.
http://stores.ebay.com/Antietam-Coi...047675.l2563

He is a former police officer and now owner/operator of Antietam Coin Exchange in Hagerstown, MD. When I go to the shop for something on his ebay store, he automatically deducts from the price (at least) what he would have to pay in ebay fees and shipping.