Collectors of Franklin Half Dollars have free access to an important new resource now being offered by the Certified Acceptance Corp. (CAC).

The company recently acquired an advanced reference set of Franklin halves to enhance its recognition of full-bell-lines specimens.

CAC is sharing the knowledge it gleaned from the set by posting detailed photographs of the coins on its Web site.

“We felt that this would be a useful educational tool for collectors,” said John Albanese, founder and president of the New Jersey-based company.

“It’s also a good way for people to learn more about CAC,” Albanese added. “When people ask what it is we’re looking for when we decide whether Franklin half dollars have full bell lines, we can tell them to check our Web site and see the kinds of things that keep a coin from being stickered.”

Full-bell-lines halves, known by the acronym “FBL” for short, are coins on which there is full separation between the bottom two lines on the Liberty Bell. Specialists prize such coins because full bell lines denote sharp strike, much like a full head on a Standing Liberty quarter, full split bands on a “Mercury” dime, or full steps on a Jefferson nickel. Typically, these pieces command substantial premiums over coins in the same grade without this designation. (more…)

Noted numismatic authority Maurice Rosen interviewed John Albanese. The following interview appeared in the Rosen Numismatic Advisory Newsletter (Vol. 33 No. 4) in May 2008.

A grading service grading other services’ coins? What’s going on?

You’ve heard about CAC [CERTIFIED ACCEPTANCE CORPORATION]. They’re the ones affixing labels or stickers to already slabbed coins attesting to the “premium quality” of the encased going – a sort of Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval. We all know that the variance in quality among slabbed coins of the same issue and grade can be substantial. If the grading services properly anticipated – and provided for – the growing problem of “C” and “D-quality” coins, there would be no need for CAC. For sure, no two coins are alike and grading is an art not a science. Unfortunately, after 22-years of grading, and after tens of millions of coins have entered the marketplace, the advertised solutions that the grading services promised to us have yet to be fully delivered.

The problem? The “bottom-of-the-barrel” coins have been dragging down the market for the solid-for-the-grade coins. The sight-unseen bidding system recognizes the ugly truth that the worst coins in holders might be put to a dealer forced to pay his bid. His defense? Lower his bids to provide for that contingency. Sight-seen bidding, on the other hand, permits the bidder the option of first viewing the coin to determine if he is satisfied with it – with no obligation to buy the coin.

As time went on, as the nice coins have been squirreled away by savvy collectors, investors and dealers, the bottom-dwellers took on a growing presence in the market. Their ranks have also been bloated by successful crack-outs, the resubmission of coins to the same or another service with the hopes of receiving a higher grade.

Read the Full Interview at the CAC Website Here