Looks a little more valuable than that but I have to agree with the $25 to $30 range. It is odd that as uncommon as those are that the prices are not higher.
As many of you may know, Ruben don't always see eye-to-eye...but in this instance I have to agree with him. Assuming it is verdigris, if not treated it WILL get worse. Maybe slowly or maybe quickly, but it will get worse.
Nice 2 cent piece. I think this is a really interesting design. Don't know what the gray looking material is, but it doesn't seem to be eating into the metal, from what I can see. Here's my 1864:
No verdigris on this one. It still amazes me that a copper coin can be around for close to 150 years and still maintain this condition. Beautiful...
I would really advise you to try and find out what that is on the coin. It doesn't really look like verdigris to me but it might be it in it's early stage. If it is, it needs to be removed to prevent further damage to the coin.
and then it seems like current Lincoln cents get black spots as soon as air hits them! I agree, it's pretty amazing, and we are lucky to be the custodians of these vestiges of the past.
It's really hard to tell from these pics. If you can get better pics it would be very helpful. But, even better would be to consult a knowledgeable dealer so they can look at the coin in hand.
Take it back... I'm going downtown today and going to Harlan J. Berk. Checked out their website and they have some pretty high quality stuff so I think I'll get an opinion on it there. If anyone has been there, is this a pretty good place?
Alright - got another opinion from a dealer: He said it looked like it was dug and cleaned????? I don't know... I would think a dug coin would look a bit worse than this beauty... What do you guys think?