Red speaks to the color,, a fully red cent would be one that has all of the mint luster present, RB or red brown would be one that has partial mint luster. B or brown would be a cent that has darkened to a brown color,like the majority of the wheat cents are. By the way welcome to the forum from a fellow New Mexican!!!
Red is good... Watch out for people that dip and/or clean Lincolns and other red cents to make them red again...not good.
Just remember that luster and color are not the same thing. You can have color on a coin, including copper coins, with underlying luster.
Hey Ed do you know of any resources that would educate someone on whether or not a copper cent has been dipped to alter it's color? I think alot of eBayers are showing their cents with either artificial orangey light during photography or else post-processing the color with a graphics program after the coin is photographed or scanned.
Here is the Reverse of a 37d That I sent in for grading. This coin is a fire red and looks mint fresh with strong luster. PCGs graded this jewel MS67RD.
Just raw experience. Look at coins graded by the top services and look at those graded MS64RD on up. Get comfortable with colors associated with MS Reds and those that are RB's, etc. Also, some years like 1945 through 1947 (WWII shellcase bronze era) had differant tones, so keep those in mind. But, most important of all, look at the coin. Look for the luster associated with MS Reds. Look at Lincoln's ear, the hair just above it, the cheeks and beard near the ear. If you see any wear, chances are that it is a AU coin being passed MS Red. Happens alot where some sellers will dip a AU coin and try to pass it off as Red. On the reverse, look at the top half of the wheat stalks. If there is any wear and still Red...that should red flag you. For me, I like some of those beautiful chocolate glazed Lincolns or AU/BU coins with deep RB luster. After the grade, luster for me is very important whereas I would rather have luster than a coin graded a couple of points higher.
I just had to post this photo--its a 1853 LG cent graded by PCI MS-63--its a brown cent....The reason a cent changes from RED to BROWN is because of air--or oxygen...copper changes tones when air comes into contact with it. Speedy
Ed, thanks for the tips. I agree about sometimes obtaining prettier toned or dark coins for less $$ that look way nicer than blazers because on the blazer even small defects jump out at you. Due to affordability issues I often target the chocolate coins and try to find nice examples. I am attaching a picture of a 1914 MS-64RB coin I picked up for a nice price that is far more attractive to me than many blazers I have seen. It has very nice surfaces and in real life it has sparkles of red when held in the light. I wish I could find more coins like this because to my eye they are more attractive (in a subtle way) and more affordable than the blazers.
Nice coin...I am right there with you. Sounds like you and I have the same Lincoln taste...and probably the same budjet. Hail to the penny!
Susan Since I'm not the owner I don't get to look at it too often but I also know that the owner has not attributed yet--maybe I will sometime Speedy
I hope you get a chance to try. I started on attribution last year and have discovered that (to me) it's one of the most exciting and fun parts of the hobby
