Sorry but coin photos that are smaller than lifesize are pretty much useless. The coin you have posted is one of the most counterfeited coins around and we will need some reasonably large photos to be able to help you.
Details are great but from the pictures, I'd say this coin was cleaned/polished. If you look around "In God We Trust" you see dark areas where dirt could not be removed and in the right wheat on reverse, there seems to be smudge or dirt there. At least from the pictures. Is this a coin you have in hand or wanting to buy?
I would have walked away too. I'm not as good as some others might be in determining but from those pictures, it definitely looks cleaned and or polished, which to me, drops the amount I'm willing to spend on it. I'm not big on professionally graded coins but if I'm going to drop over $1000 on a coin, I'm gonna want to have some type of verification that it's real and graded already without potential hidden problems.
AU-Details. The coin has been harshly cleaned and/or whizzed, IMO. Whizzing evidence (hairline scratches) is noticeable in the lower-chest/shoulder portion of the Lincoln bust. ... I wouldn't touch it for $0.01, let alone nearly $2k! :O -Brian
I agree certain coins need to be verfied real and not be tampered with before I spend that kind of money.
Were you asking our opinions on the coin because you had planned on making a bid yourself? If so........ :foot-mouth: -Brian
THE key coin of the Lincoln Cent series in that condition and not slabbed raises a red flag with me. I suspect it is not slabbed for a reason. It could be counterfeit. (The Chinese are cranking out some reasonably convincing '09-S VDBs these days.) It could be altered surfaces. It could be a lot of things. I would not take a chance on a coin like that one, especially at the price it went for.