Red Lincolns - A question about

[AlixTCat]

I see people on this group talking about "red Lincolns" and wonder what that means. I have some red cents, but when I look at auctions for "red Lincolns" they are not red. So, I assume it does not mean the coins are actually toned red.

 

So, what exactly does this mean? If this has been hashed out in here before, please direct me where I can find this information.

 

Thanks!

[spiny]

"Red" is just the normal copper/bronze color as minted, with some allowances for toning darker. You'll see many shades of red. I don't think I could describe a good cutoff point where red turns to red-brown.

[Oldtrader3]

Coins officially become RB (red brown) when they darken 5% of their color from red to brown (or some other colored toning). Now, practically speaking, how do you measure this change? Good luck, because there seems to be a wide margin of definition for RD vs. RB cents.

[AlixTCat]

Oh, I see. Very good then. So, if a copper cent is still in excellent condition toning-wise, it is considered RED?

 

What about the new copper plated zinc cents? Same thing or is there a date cutoff on "red cents?"

 

I wonder why the don't call them "coppers" if "red" means they have not toned at all. After all, a cent isn't "red" _until_ it tones. As I said, I have some cents that are actually RED and not copper colored.

 

Thanks for the replies.

[midwest]

Here is the deal on red cents.when struck they of course have a red color.If this color changes to so much brown it is RB Now if the coin is toned it is denoted as RB.Hope this helps.

[spiny]

Coins officially become RB (red brown) when they darken 5% of their color from red to brown (or some other colored toning). Now, practically speaking, how do you measure this change? Good luck, because there seems to be a wide margin of definition for RD vs. RB cents.

 

Right. I knew about the arbitrary 5% rule, but the latter part of your reply is why I couldn't define a good cutoff point.

[James_OldeTowne]

I keep hoping some day that NGC and PCGS will adopt the "hot rod" nomenclature, so I can finally own a "hot rod Lincoln"!

 

James

[GoYankees]

My brother-in-law has a complete set of wheaties in a Dansco album. He noticed that some of the "red" cents have a pinkish (salmon) color while others did not.

 

I remember reading somewhere that those "salmon" cents were dipped/stripped of their original surface. Is my memory correct? Is this true?

 

BTW James, that was a nice 1937-s cent I bought from you. It looks good in my collection!

thanks again,

-mark

[James_OldeTowne]

Yes it was - and you got a deal on it too! I can vouch for that coin, as I personally advised and helped the consignor submit it. It took 30 years of residence in a Whitman album to produce the beautiful toning on that Lincoln. The good news is, there were several others just about as nice, and I am proud to be the owner of a few of them.

 

Images (click to enlarge):

 

 

 

James