Franklin Half Dollar Prices

Hello.

I just recently started collecting last year. I'm collecting for fun, not as a future investment, though certainly landing a valuable coin couldn't hurt either.

So far, I've gotten the 2007 Proof Coin set from the U.S. Mint. The catalyst for collecting, in my particular case was the new Presidential dollar series. Back in 1999, I wanted to collect all 50 State Quarters, but I lost interest not long after, and never did.

Of course, this year is the last year of the State Quarters, and after looking through piles and piles of old quarters I am only four old quarters plus this year's four new quarters away from making my State Quarter collection complete. I'm only collecting one of each.

I'm not very interested in collecting one from each mint, nor different years for a single coin design. Instead, I'm looking to collect only one coin of each design, or two if it is only one design, in order to display both back and front at once.

This leads me to my question. After doing a bit of research, the next coin I'd like to get is a Franklin half dollar. Ben Franklin is a favorite character of mine and I rather like his coin. It would be nice to have a Ben Franklin coin in use today.

I know the Franklin half dollars are not terribly expensive either, which makes it a mighty good candidate for me, too. However, I've been a bit surprised to find online retailers selling 1959-1962 Franklin half dollars for merely $7 to $12 each, and in uncirculated condition, no less!

So I wanted to ask: Does this sound legit, or is there some funny business going on here? I wanted to jump at an offer, but I thought I should get some feedback from more knowledgeable and experienced collectors first.