1952 50C, FBL MS(PCGS#86661)

1952 50C, FBL MS (PCGS#86661)

February 2026 Showcase Auction - The James A. Stack, Sr. Collection Part II

Lot Description: This outstanding Superb Gem is far more attractive than virtually all other circulation strike 1952 half dollars that your cataloger (JLA) can ever recall handling, a comment that includes other Superb Gems as well as other toned examples. A halo of deep, vivid, multicolored toning rings the obverse, the colors broader at right than elsewhere. The reverse is more reserved, yet still original with speckled reddish-russet overtones to a base of golden-apricot. The luster is full and satiny, and the strike is razor sharp over even the most trivial design elements. Writing in the 2023 edition of the Guide Book of Franklin & Kennedy Half Dollars, Rick Tomaska describes the 1952 in MS-67 and MS-67 FBL as:Rare! I have handled only five or six attractive examples in this highest grade going back to 1991. All were Mint set toned with better-than-average color.Indeed, the coin offered here is far more attractively toned than the typical Mint set Franklin half, which tends to have rather dark, splotchy colors on one or both sides. When combined with its outstanding striking quality and amazing preservation, this coin is one of the finest Mint State 1952 half dollars available in the numismatic market.