Authentication Quest For 1976-S 50c FS-101 Silver Business Strike.

Seller's pictures from ebay.

1976-S 50c FS-101 Silver Business Strike

I am having a variety hunting adventure with this coin. Perhaps some day I will write a blog post about it, if I ever build a coin blog. (Note: As I wrote this, it essentially became a blog post for the forums. So be it!)

I have a soft spot for bicentennial coins. I was born in 1976, so people have been saving drummer boy quarters and giving them to me for my entire life. Ultimately, I would like to build a complete collection of nice 1776-1976 coins, including the varieties.

Over the past few months, I've gotten better at identifying varieties with the Wexler files, Variety Vista, and PCGS TrueView. I decided to test my skills against ebay for bicentennial coins. I blanked on quarters for the DDO and RPM, so I switched to Kennedy halves. I have really wanted a silver business strike 1776-1976 Kennedy half from San Francisco. After searching a couple hundred listings, I found what I believed to be an FS-101 candidate. I won an eBay auction for $20 for a nice coin. My reasoning was that I could be paying $5 over market for a normal coin, but has a gorgeous luster and I felt like rolling the dice.

I have not concluded this is an FS-101 coin, but it looks promising. Here begin the authentication challenges. The first is the difference in listing between the Variety Vista entry for FS-101 and the Wexler files. Variety Vista has a super crisp entry for We Trust. That's it. Uncharacteristically, there are no markers listed. The Wexler files entry for FS-101 have an expanded entry that includes the TY of Liberty, the date, designer initials, and hair on the back of the head. No images of the designer initials or hair are included. No indicators arrows for the date are provided either. Markers are a die scratch in the Y and a die gouge below the crossbar of the T. The Y is clear, the listing for T has no die gouge near the T crossbar, although it seems to have one near the post foot. Unless it is referring to the unbelievably tiny gouge halfway across the bar. Of note, the Variety Vista entry does not seem to have the scratch in Y. It does have the bump at the base of the T, but the crossbar underside is in shadow. The Wexler listing feels more like my coin, with the softer lines of a mid-late die state on a silver coin.

To get a feel for actual coin appearance instead of microscope pictures, I used PCGS TrueView. There are not many imaged entries for FS-101, and just 111 total certified. The doubling line on the right T post of Liberty seems pretty clear. Also, almost all of the listed coins have the die scratch visible in the Y.



Wexler on the left, my images on the right.

Here it is worth noting that Kennedy halves are known for series and hub doubling. One of my concerns overall is that I might be correctly identifying doubling, but not the source (die vs. hub). The most prominent doubling on We Trust is on the middle point of the W, which has a little hat with double notches. Also on the top left serif—and possibly bottom serif—of the E. The E is what drew me to this particular coin.



The doubling on R and S are quite dramatic on the Variety Vista entry. Viewing the TrueView examples, the separation lines are nowhere near as strong as the Variety Vista entry, which was made with a sharply lit microscope. There is also a notch on the thickened left serif of the U, which clearly appears on my coin. Again, I have that sense that the U doubling has a softer hub doubling appearance than a doubled die appearance. However, I have long held that same opinion about doubling on Mercury dimes. Silver is much softer in the light than cupronickel.

The final challenge is my basic equipment. My little plastic magnifier and bar flashlight seem inadequate to image the fine doubling features. The silver is much more reflective than the nickels that I typically image. I am not getting good macro lens images, either. I have relied often on the original seller's images of the coin. Presently I have a post on the photography forum seeking input on an inexpensive coin scope, if anyone has a good recommendation.

So what's the verdict? Am I on the right track with this coin, or just wandering in the proverbial forest?