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the nation. Subsequent population reports emanating from PCGS will reveal how very scarce the majority of proof issues are in cameo. With the release of the cameo proof book, and with PCGS'' and NGC''s leap into this market, cameo dealers and collectors will now have accurate, hard data with the release of these services'' grading reports to back up what we long-time cameo dealers and collectors have known for years - that exceptional cameo examples of many dates are extremely rare, and are truly among the best values in U.S. numismatics today. Most collectors and dealers are very familiar with BU Franklins. The majority of uncirculated BU halfdollar Franklin halfdollar half dollars on the market are extremely baggy, and/or possess very heavy, unattractive brown or gray toning. These are ugly coins. The Franklin design is a work of art in its simplicity. The bust of Franklin on the obverse, and the famous Liberty bell on the reverse, are beautiful when their surfaces are clear and unblemished! In addition, many Franklins were issued by the mint in cardboard mint sets. The sulfur from these paper products often created some of the most beautifully toned coins in all of U.S. coinage! While rare, gem Franklin halves involved "acid-dipping" the dies before they were polished. The solution used during the 1950 to 1970 period, a bath consisting of 5% nitric acid/95% water, was used to create an acid-etched appearance on the die. When the die was subsequently polished and buffed, the recessed portions of the die, the devices, retained their acid-etched cameo. The very first strikes off one of these new dies would possess a gorgeous, intense cameo effect very similar in quality to the proofs minted today. The raised portions of these early strikes, the devices (on the Franklin half, these would be the bust of Franklin, the lettering, and date on the obverse, and the Liberty bell, eagle, and lettering on the reverse) would display a snow-white cameo effect that would stand in stark contrast to the deep-mirrored fields surrounding them. The flawless, jewel-like quality of the best of these cameos almost look like works of art rather than mere coins! Indeed, to most collectors, these coins are works of art! The frosted devices of these early cameo dies were quite delicate - one could easily scratch a bit of frost from the die with one''s fingernail, and were the first part of the die to wear. Each devoted to it. Here is one final, very important halfdollar similarly between the Morgan dollar series and the Cameo Proof series: In grading prooflike Morgan dollars, the two largest grading services in the nation, PCGS (Professional Coin Grading Service) and NGC (Numismatic Guaranty Corporation), offer two grades of prooflike for that series - "DMPL" (Deep Mirror Prooflike) - for the very earliest strikes off the business die, and a simple "PL" (Prooflike) - for the slightly later strikes. PCGS and NGC now offer a similar delineation for all proof coinage from the 1950 to 1970 era. As of early February, 1992, PCGS offers halfdollar two cameo designations for early strike cameo proofs - "DCAM" (Deep Cameo - roughly equivalent to what we refer to as "ultra-heavy") - for those cameo proofs which were the very earliest strikes off the proof die, with the heaviest contrast, and a simple "CAM" (Cameo) designation for those coins which were slightly later strikes, but which still possess significant cameo contrast. NGC instituted their own two-tier system similar to PCGS'' in the spring of 1995. With PCGS and NGC now involved, novices will for the first time have their coins recognized by the most widely used grading service in
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