Well I have been looking around and from looking at the other MS examples on Heritage this one does not exihibit the same strong strike of the others(a whole 8 of them). I was trying to figure out if I was way off base on my grading - I think I found the coin in an old PCGS holder which made me feel better about my grading. Is it the same coin? Still nice no matter what grade is on the holder.
Saw this thread looking for threads on Classic Head cents so I thought I'd post one I used to own here. Looks to be similar die state as the OP coin (XII I think??) the "bearded" state... This won is NGC AU55 and seems to have been given the Blue Ribbon treatment maybe:
Just going from the pictures, and the apparent even coloration, I suspect the coin has been recolored. Subsequently, blue ribbon (or Care, or any type of oil) may have been used -- tough to say for sure as the glossy appearance of oiled coins often doesn't come through in photographs. All of the above IMO and hoping to help...MikeInFL
Appreciate the comments and I agree that it was messed with. I don't own it anymore as I traded it to fund the purchase of a 1909 Matte Proof Lincoln... actually made quite a bit of money on the coin in selling it though as I got it super cheap off eBay because the following pic was the only one offered by the seller: Bought it based on the price and the number on the slab in my earlier more careless and uninformed buying days... sometimes it worked out like here, but other times I got burned hard.
How much would you say the recoloring knocked off the price , to tell the truth I like the color . rzage:hammer::hatch:
In most cases, not that much (10-20% would be my WAG). Remember, recolored large cents -- particularly rare ones like this classic head in AU -- aren't viewed as negatively as they are in other coins/metals.