One of the most impressive results at Stack’s Bowers Galleries’ March 26 Rarities Night was the $84,000 realized by a magnificently toned 1948 Franklin half dollar graded Mint State 68 Full Bell Lines by Professional Coin Grading Service.

Rick Tomaska called this coin spectacular, and it was on the cover of the first and second editions of his A Guide Book of Franklin & Kennedy Half Dollars.

In the current fourth edition, he says that it is the only coin in the series with this lofty grade, and it is distinguished by its bold strike, satiny luster, clean surfaces and color.

The auction cataloger wrote, “The obverse is awash in a rich mottling of intense rose, orange-copper, sea-green and olive-gold iridescence,” before suggesting that it may have spent time in an original cardboard Mint Set holder where it acquired its incredible toning.

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