1957-D Franklin 50C early die stage?

[thedrpepper]

Hi all, back with another question for everyone - still learning the ropes with Varieties and RPM so bare with me here.

I found this 1957-D Franklin 50C, and based on VarietyVista FS-501, this has all the diagnostics of the RPM, in the exact patterns as shown on Variety vista:

1. Die scratches on reverse under stATEs
2. Die scratches on obverse between wE Trust
3. Die scratches reverse under UNUM

However my mint mark seems much neater than that pictured on Variety Vista. Could this be an early die stage? Possibly not an RPM at all but then I'm surprised my die scratches look exactly like those pictures on Variety Vista.

I welcome your input - thanks yall!

[thedrpepper]

I did a bit more scoping and can see the notch in the mintmark caused by the repunch! I believe this may be an early die stage or perhaps a slightly finer example than the one attributed on Variety Vista.

I welcome your input all.

[MintErrors]

In my opinion, what we are going to need is a well centered photo of the mint mark with some of the background devices as well. A straight on shot allows for a person to create an overlay, two photos on top of each other to see if the mintmarks are in the same location. That can assist whether the coin in hand is from the same working die that is in the attributors photos.

I have a post on this website that may help with taking photos from a cell phone. Here is the link:

https://board.conecaonline.org/forum...th-a-cellphone

I can try with the photo above tomorrow but it may be a bit tp blurry to match it up exactly.

[MintErrors]

One other thing. If a person has an auto focus capability on the camera it maycmake photos a touch blurry. The reason is typicall the coin is in some sort of holder. The camera tends to focus on the cardboard or the thin mylar film instead of the coin itself. I like to take my photos of the coin raw thats not in a holder.

For slabbed coins one has to make due. Sometimes temporarily switching to manual focus may help. Lighting can be a #1 pain as well. It may take a few tries to getca good photo.

From what i can see in the photos, it looks promising.

[thedrpepper]

Thanks for the reply Gary! Im no coin photographer but I gave it a shot. im not sure if the lighting is right but I pulled this one out of the flip and tried to get it as head on as i could.

Im not sure how to overlay the other image though... is there a non-photoshop option to try this with?

[MintErrors]

thedrpepper

Nice photo.

What i use for my overlays is the free version of paint dot net from the authors website.

https://www.getpaint.net/

I am not on my pc until later today so i dont have the steps on how to do the overlay.

The hardest part in my opinion is getting two photos from different sources and getting them so they can have the mintmatk and some of the background devices the same size. So, i would download the photo from a reference website. I use it for personal use, and when done I remove it. So for instance one could download an example from varietyvista. You would need one that has good centering on the mintmark with some devices on it.
Then, take a photo of your coin, and try to get the same basic photo of your coin.

I start the paint dot net program and I stay within the LAYERS menu for all the file actions.
I open the first file from the layers menu. That file is the bottom photo.
I then open another photo and it should open right on top of the first.
With that 2nd photo active, you can go all the way to the bottom of the layers menu. I think its called properties. Under there is a slide bar. That will adjust the opacity or transparency of that second photo.

You can pull corners and make adjustments in order to get the two photos to the same size of the mintmark and devices.

I can resize the photos several times in any photo editing program, like paint.
It can take several tries. I simply close paint dot net if i need to, dont save and make adjustments.

The idea is to line up the devices as perfect as you can get, and see if the mintmark lands perfectly on top of each other.

[MintErrors]

The markers or pick up points like the scratches, die gouges, cracks etc are typically what cements a good attribution.

I use my AMSCOPE microscope to determine if it is an RPM

I typically eyeball the position of the mint mark to see if is a close match.

If the attributors website has those markers/pick up points (pups) i look for those.

I then create a personal overlay to confirm.

Some websites have copyrights or clauses on their photos. Its best to follow their conditions to avoid any unnecessary heartburn. Some just want an email asking for approval. If the overlays are done privately and not posted, in my opinion, I dont see any harm. I then delete it all when finished.

[thedrpepper]

Great tips Gary. Looks like a match to me

Exciting to have found this one in the wild.