1936 50C Albany MS66+ Certification #34506759, PCGS #9227

David Hall

The Albany half dollar is a mid-range rarity for the silver commemorative series. The original mintage was 25,013. Of those, 13 were assay issues and 7,342 were melted as unsold at the issue price of $2. That leaves a net distributed mintage of 17,671, about mid-range mintage size for silver commems. Of the original mintage, probably 12,000 to 15,000 survive today, nearly all of them mint state. Most Albanys are in the MS64 or MS65 grade. Albanys, like most commemorative issues of the 1930s, are quite rare in circulated grades and are in high demand from "low ball" collectors.

The average grade for an Albany is MS63 to MS66 and MS67s are somewhat scare. The typical Albany has good satiny luster, though there are many toned with varying degrees of eye appeal. You should avoid the dark, dingy toned examples and also the unattractive yellow toned examples. Eye appeal is definitely a factor with this issue. Interestingly, though Albanys are readily obtainable in MS64 to MS66 grades, they are rare in MS67 or better, probably due to eye appeal/toning problems.