1909-S/S Lincoln Cent, what would you grade it?

[CorrodedSilver]

I bought this coin on Ebay for $250 and plan on submitting it to NGC for grading. It is a 1909-S/S (horizontal) Lincoln cent. The letters in the word "TRUST" is poorly struck, especially the "ST" and the "L" in "LIBERTY". Does this effect how they grade the coin? It seems to have wood graining on it. Second photo, lines on picture are on the plastic of the flip. Seller claims it is red but it is definitely not red, most likely red brown, possibly even just plain brown. Because of that I am getting really suspicous if they are a legit company or not. So I am calling on you experts to give me your opinions. Can you tell me what grade the coin is in your opinion, is it gradable, and is it authentic (never heard of a fake S/S coin, at least not yet). Thanks!

 

 

 

 

 

[Mark T]

Coin looks to be BN , it is not close to being RD. It could be Au 58 – Ms 63. I looked at the EBAY sale , they violated Ebay coin selling rules by putting a grade in the listing. Yes they disguised the grade but it was listed none the less. I always question why a coin like this is being sold raw , many times it means the coin was considered details by a TPG.

[BillJones]

I too think it falls in the AU-58 to MS-62 range. The normal S over horrizonal S variety is a deal, but it's not big deal over the usual variety. I had one when I was a dealer that I bought raw and had certified, which was a bit nicer than this one.

[johnny9434]

Coin looks to be BN , it is not close to being RD. It could be Au 58 – Ms 63. I looked at the EBAY sale , they violated Ebay coin selling rules by putting a grade in the listing. Yes they disguised the grade but it was listed none the less. I always question why a coin like this is being sold raw , many times it means the coin was considered details by a TPG.

yeah, what he said.

[thabeast]

The photos are alittle fuzzy, so it makes it nearly impossible to see any minor wear if there was some. Going from these photos, it doesn't look there is wear on this coin and it has retained some nice mint luster under the brown toning. In my collection I would grade this MS 63 BN. Good looking coin over all and I particularly like nicely toned brown cents. Nice variety to add to anyone's collection.

[Raisethis2]

I don't see any wear on Lincoln's cheek. That's the place I start. The coin is Brown, not red or red/brown. That factors into the grade.

 

I think it's a solid MS 63 or better.

[michael]

Can you tell me what grade the coin is in your OPINION

 

 

au/unc details cleaned

 

sight seen could be different but all I have is photos

[CorrodedSilver]

It looks like an MS 63 BN to me (my opinion). The seller did claim it was a red but it looks brown to me, there is some red showing (very small amount) so I don't think it will make it to red brown.

 

Mark T was correct (you make a great detective), the Ebay listing also gave it a rating of MS64 in the title and description which is against Ebay policy. The two Ebay pictures of the coin were done in such a way as to make the coin look red. I can see no signs of it having been cleaned. Why would a coin dealer sell a coin at such a good discount, I suspect, like others have mentioned that there is something wrong with it. No one has commented on the weak "ST" in the word "TRUST". Does this lower the grade of a coin because of a weak strike?

 

Because the seller sold me the coin as a RED and I feel it is not, I have decided to return the coin. I have already begun the process through Ebay.

 

Thank you all for your comments, it was helpful for me in determining what action I should take.

[Raisethis2]

The strike weakness should have just a tiny role in the final grade.

[Mark T]

Use a lot of caution when buying raw coins on Ebay, sometimes you can get lucky but most of the time you wont.