Just came in the mail today. Photo taken through the flip. Give me your thoughts on surface and grade. Thanks.
No surface issues. Lamination obverse. Clash of feather tip reverse. Later die state. Gem all the way, MS66. Fine-looking lady, there, razor.
My monitor is at factory default settings, but that is of little use to anyone else since monitor-to-monitor variability is enormous as is the angle that folks look at their monitors.
Well, the reason I posted this coin was mainly because of color. It looks fantastic honestly, but it looks just alittle off. As I stated on another forum, I've seen plenty of IHC's graded and slabbed with this pinkish hue with no problems... so I just don't know really. It has tons of luster and a nice cartwheel when turned under light.
It resembles a copper-nickel cent to me. I agree with @Tom B that it's probably been dipped and with @eddiespin regarding the general surfaces and grade. If my monitor is accurately showing me the color, I'm not sure if it would slab problem free or not. :/
I'm not confident at all that it would slab problem free either. I like this IHC, especially because of the die clash that @eddiespin point out and that I missed at purchase. It looks really nice in hand and under glass... but I don't like the feeling that it may have been altered. Don't know yet.
I know what's giving you pause. I'm seeing it, too. There's no way to dip copper, however, and make it come out looking like that. Thus, what are you into, in the grading room? You're into the grader's imagination. Just bear that in mind. This is a strong coin. If you look at the MS64s, even the MS65s, on Heritage, right now, you'll see this one is pristine as a whistle, compared to those. Again, I see what you're seeing. And, I'll be candid, I've seen coins at this caliber given the ax. Not much more anybody can say, really. Just, let us know the verdict. Good luck.
I'm going to think about it some more today. But as it stands currently, I'm leaning toward keeping it. I'll let you guys know. Thanks for all the input as it's very much appreciated!
I did a little searching while at lunch and it was pretty interesting. Once you step into MS66, there are a good many of IHC's that have the same or very similar color/tone that my IHC has. Below are some links to ones that I felt were probably not exact, but definitely in the same vein: http://coins.ha.com/itm/indian-cents/1900-1c-ms66-red-pcgs/a/444-164.s?type=NGC444 http://coins.ha.com/itm/indian-cent...ia-wsl-price-for-p/a/1136-7173.s?type=NGC1136 http://www.stacksbowers.com/BrowseAuctions/LotArchive.aspx?AuctionID=6039&Lot=3361 http://coins.ha.com/itm/indian-cents/1900-1c-ms66-red-pcgs-cac/a/1181-3089.s?type=NGC1181 http://coins.ha.com/itm/indian-cent...-cac-snow-1-fs-301/a/1173-3622.s?type=NGC1173 http://coins.ha.com/itm/indian-cents/1900-1c-ms66-red-pcgs/a/1121-363.s?type=NGC1121 http://coins.ha.com/itm/indian-cent...e-of-facial-ticks-not/a/394-836.s?type=NGC394 http://coins.ha.com/itm/indian-cent...e-patina/a/330-5454.s?type=NGC330#27122712721 This was just a quick search under the year 1900. I felt like there were enough examples that I didn't search any other years. I'm feeling better about this coin after doing this little bit of research.
This is nowhere remotely close to MS66. You can see dark swirls of lines in several places. Looks like someone might have tried to add dellers darkener or some other surface treatment and it stripped away the surface. More like MS63 Details. Cleaned.
I'm not claiming this is an MS 66 coin, that wasn't my point. I wanted to find examples of graded and slabbed coins that shared similar characteristics in color & tone as my coin. I feel good that I've found plenty of examples in simply 3 minutes of researching. Also, the photo was taken through the flip and the obverse swirl @ 7 o'clock is a thread. May not make a hill of beans difference, but just wanted to clarify that what the swirl is. I feel pretty confident it's not a details coin. It very well could be, but I don't think it is.