1920S Lincoln - What's the grade and what's it worth

I picked this up at the LCS today. It's a raw 1920S Lincoln (as you can see!).

On the obverse you can make out some of the green toning around the edges, red in the hair, and the red toning in the fields. On the reverse the rainbow toning is easier to see. I don't see any lines or scratches - they are artifacts of the angled lighting.

I have no answers for you if you offer an opinion, but I am eager to hear your opinions on grade and value. What's the grade and what's it worth?

 

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Unc. Details would be my guess. The obverse has been cleaned, you can see the hairlines from the wipe on the obverse in the second photo. It's too bad, it has some nice color.

 

I agree 100% with jtlee321

 

Cleaned and album toned.

 

Ms60 or details scratch

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scratch on Lincoln's shoulder

 

If it gets a solid grade ms 65

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Your pictures make it look like it has been wiped, probably before it was put in an album for a long time. It appears AU to me, although the secondary toning is quite attractive. The value will be hurt significantly by the cleaning, but the toning makes up for it somewhat.

 

Thanks everyone.

This seems to make sense.

The coin is shiny, due in part to the toning that has formed, but lacks the cartwheel luster that I can see on my other cents of that age.

- scratch on shoulder
- cleaned long ago
- spent a long time retoning in album
- good precise features with especially sharp reverse. I've seen similar obverses on the auction sites so I don't know if it's the strike or wear
- and the toning tips the scales

In hand, the fields are a little "flat" but everything else looks great.

I'm happy to add it to my set.

 

It's a very attractive old gentleman, nice pickup.

 

Thank you. Not every coin is perfect but they all seem to have a story to tell.

 

MS details, old cleaning....nonetheless, I like it. Based on the toning and overall look, I probably would have bought it myself given a good price.

 

Cartwheel luster is important for a toner, as that luster is usually removed when someone improperly cleans a coin. On the flip side, some of the MS 20's Lincolns like the 21-S don't have much (if any) cartwheel luster in my experience. At one show I attended years ago a dealer has three mint state 21-S's, they all lacked cartwheel luster. Additionally, the color of MS 21-s's is odd, they just look flat....but that's the way they are.

 

I do not see cleaning. The best I can determine, those "hairlines" are raised. i.e. die scratches. (1:00 is bright and 6:00 is dark just like the rest if the devises on the coin.) However, I still think the coin will go details - scratched. I will guess AU, but it might just as well go MS.

 

OK, this is getting real interesting again!

When I get home I will try to photograph more detail in that area. I really don't see anything there in hand - I can look harder!

I have been wondering about this very thing. I have been seeing some coins, like a 1917 I got the other day, that has incredible luster. But others, just a few years later and into the 1920 decade, do seem to have flatter fields and less, if any, cartwheel luster. Could this be due to die wear? Or could the master hub just be worn or have flatter fields that caused less surface flow?

In the case of this coin, the cheekbones and hair look worn but the wheat ears are crisp. I matched the hair to some old HA auction photos and to the NGC Coin Explorer site, and many have the same worn look to them.

 

They are fine, but obvious in your second picture.

 

I see what you mean. If those marks are from polishing the die, then could a polished die be flatter than it originally was, and not be as effective at creating the metal flow that creates cartwheel luster?

On some other Lincolns with great luster I can easily see the dished curvature of the surface. (I can even see it in some eBay pictures, like this one I shamelessly "borrowed" from a dealer I have used...)



On the 1920-S, not so much.

@physics-fan3.14 - I based some of my thinking on your book... Is there any chance I am making sense?

 

Another shot of the reverse..... The holder is opened, so this is the coin without any plastic in front of it. I love the electric blue.

I may need one of you guys to photograph this to do it justice.

 

Now tht I see that, it has been cleaned. Sorry.

 

Die polish lines are RAISED, not incuse. Highly polished dies create strong but more diffuse luster. A good polish job can also create what I call "halo luster", where there's a glow around the portrait. That's more of a 40's and 50's thing though. Here's an example of a die I think was properly polished and light worn...just enough to remove the die polish lines and produce halo luster: