GTG 1955-S Wheat Cent & 1874-S Seated Liberty Dime

so I've asked a few members in here their opinion on the 55-S Lincoln and I think it's going back in for designation review. This is the video from my IG page that shows the coin prior to being sent to NGC. The video does the coin justice that my images do not.

1955-S Lincoln Wheat PL Video

I just got these back in hand yesterday. I haven't looked closely at the 74-S yet but I will hopefully in the next couple of days and try and get some better images of it.

 

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There's no question that's PL, every bit of it.

 

Well the Lincoln didn’t get a PL or star, I’ve asked for explanation as the coin is still there.

the 1874-S just got the green bean from CAC.

 

@BigTee44 was nice enough to let me examine this coin in hand, since I love PL coins so much. In hand, the obverse is semi-prooflike. The mirrors are present and obvious (highly unusual for a Lincoln!), but I don't think they are strong enough for PL.

However, the reverse is what kills this coin's chances, I think. There is die polish across the entire reverse, which is characteristic of these mid-20th century prooflikes. But here, there is only a hint of a mirror. It is an unusual look for a Wheat cent, of course, but not nearly strong enough for PL.

Thank you for letting me look at this coin!

 

I remember looking at this coin on the forum. Those are some awesome die polishing lines.

Are you saying that it is too late of a die state to get the PL designation.
There sure are some reflective fields on this coin?

 

Die state isn't really relevant to the PL designation. More important is how recent was the polish. I have some PLs that are clearly from brand spanking new dies - they were the first couple dozen strikes from a brand new die that was polished before putting into service.

But I also have PLs that are clearly from later die states, exhibiting die cracks and the stresses of life. I suspect that these had clashed at some point, were taken out and polished to remove the clash, and then returned to service.

For example, I suspect this is exactly what happened with the reverse of the 55S. If you look very closely, there are die cracks in both wheat ears, and small die breaks as well. It is hard to see in this photograph, but there is evidence of a die clash on the reverse between the O and C.

The only thing that really matters for PL is the depth of the mirrors. Sometimes the polish brought out mirrors, and sometimes it just left die polish lines. On this coin, especially the reverse, the mirrors just aren't as strong as they need to be for the PL designation.