Coin appearance question

[newprepper]

My last question brought another to mind. As I am looking at my lincolns, I have some RB's that appear to be more red than a couple of my RD's. What are the options I have? And the pro's and con's associated with them

[MarkFeld]

My last question brought another to mind. As I am looking at my lincolns, I have some RB's that appear to be more red than a couple of my RD's. What are the options I have? And the pro's and con's associated with them

 

Color designations, like grades, can be subjective and inconsistent. I have seen many coins labeled "RD" which look "RB".

 

And keep in mind that some "RD" coins which were accurately designated as such at the time they were encapsulated, might have changed since that time.

 

In deciding whether you think your examples merit a "RD" designation, you might be better off comparing them to what a "RD" coin should look like, rather than to some so-called "RD" coins which might not really be "RD".

[newprepper]

Thanks Mark, that is really the point of my question, if I submit an RB for appearance I may get an upgrade to RD. But to do the same for a RD would kill the coin. Where would I find something to compare the RB's for possible upgrade to RD?

[RWB]

When a coin is described as a certain color, it is very rare to have the description include information about the type of lighting used when the color was assessed.

 

As an extreme example, in researching my book on WW-II Pattern and Experimental Pieces, I encountered dozens of color descriptions of the 1942 plastic pieces. In nearly every instance, when I examined the coin under controlled conditions, the color was entirely different than described. Coins described as “red” were actually dark brown when measured objectively; pieces called “green” in catalogs were really light brown. People are poor evaluators of color (just ask your wife about colors), and it gets even worse when coins are viewed under differing lighting conditions.

 

[RWB]

P: I doubt that NGC or PCGS has an objective color measurement system for copper and bronze coins - it's too time consuming.