New "Bugs Bunny" variety will be auctioned by GreatCollections on Sunday, August 16th, 2015. The exciting new Franklin Half Dollar variety on a Proof issue was previously unrecorded until recently.
The "Bugs Bunny" variety is known to many on the 1955 Franklin Half Dollar business strike and it is also known on other business strike dates and mint marks. However, it was previously unknown on a Proof issue. It has been graded PCGS Proof-65 as FS-403 Bugs Bunny, with CAC approval and is being sold without reserve. Bidding will start at $1.
"I am expecting a lot of interest in this coin; it is destined to be in one of the finest sets of Franklins. This is exactly why so many of us enjoy numismatics – being able to find a new variety of an issue released over 60 years ago," said Ian Russell, President/founder of GreatCollections.
Cherrypickers' co-author Bill Fivaz wrote: "The clashmarks at the mouth of the eagle’s wing on the reverse are every bit as strong as on the 1955 business strike and because the discovery coin is an early strike from the clashed dies (it's somewhat frosted on both obverse and reverse) it is naked eye obvious."
The coin is listed in the 6th Edition, Volume 2 of the Cherrypickers' Guide by Bill Fivaz and J.T. Stanton and it has appeared in CoinWorld and Numismatic News articles when the coin was first discovered earlier this year.
GreatCollections has high quality images posted at www.greatcollections.com and the coin is available to view by appointment at their Irvine, California headquarters. GreatCollections will also take the coin to the World's Fair of Money in Rosemont, Illinois to display at tables 809 and 811 from August 11 through August 15, 2015.
