NEW BOOK: THE AUTHORITATIVE REFERENCE ON FRANKLIN HALF DOLLARS

The Authoritative Reference on Franklin Half Dollars by Kevin Flynn will soon be available. The book is 8 ½ by 11, 184 pages, and tons of photographs. Prepublication price will be available until the book is printed. Book should be going to the printers in 2 weeks, then should take 5 weeks to print.

This is Flynn's 40th book on numismatics. One of the benefits of writing books is the knowledge gained through research. Reading Franklin's 800 page autobiography gave incredible insight as to his contributions in developing our country's social and moral values and preparing the colonies in becoming a nation. No other individual is more responsible for our independence. It's no wonder Mint Director Nellie Tayloe Ross wanted to pay tribute to Franklin with his image on a coin. As the coins remember those who are important to us, Flynn included extensive information on Franklin's life and contributions.

The primary purpose of this book was to create a complete and comprehensive reference for the Franklin Half Dollar series including all major die varieties, history, hub changes, collecting, historical documents, and hot topics.

The die variety section of the book includes 38 doubled dies and 30 repunched mint marks. This includes several new die varieties which have not been listed before. For each die variety listed, detailed macro photos make identification much easier. Most of the varieties include multiple photographs showing different details. Included also for each variety is a detailed description of the variety, diagnostics, including die markers such as die cracks, scratches, clashes which can make identifying the variety easier, pricing, and cross references.

Many new archive letters were uncovered relative to the Franklin Half Dollar series and are included. This greatly helped in the analysis of the history section and shed new details on the series. For each hub change, enlarged photos show the before and after of the design changes with a detailed description of the differences. Also included are sections on Collecting, Grading, Certified, and Proof Franklin Half Dollars. A detailed analysis is presented on Full Bell Lines as this is critical in collecting Franklins. This book also contains sections written by Brett Parrish, Greg Lewis, and Douglas McIndoe.

The date-by-date section offers an analysis of each date including scarcity, striking characteristics, world history which occurred that year, hot topics, comments, current values, prices realized from Heritage Auctions, and the certified population counts from PCGS and NGC.

The Hot Topics section contains a several detailed studies on the Franklin Half Dollar series including refuting the 1950D/S, the alleged 1964 Franklin Half Dollar, the 1959 Type 2 over Type 1, and the Bugs Bunny die varieties..

Only 50 hardcovers are being printed. Retail for the softcover is $34.95, hardcover $100. Prepublication price available until the book is printed is $30 for the softcover, $85 for the hardcover. Include $5 for media rate or $10 for first class postage.

To order, send a check or money order to Kevin Flynn P.O. Box 396, Lumberton, NJ 08048. Please send any questions to Kevin Flynn at kevinj50@comcast.net .

Wayne Homren, Editor

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