With all the posts about these primo Lincolns, and the difficulty in grading them, heres one to try. I will post grade Monday night......dont cheat
I'm no good with Lincoln grading, but I'll take a guess just for the fun of it. Maybe MS 66 RB ? GUy~
IMO what with the somewhat flat strike, hits in key places, carbon spots, rim dings and being struck with misaligned dies - it should in no way ever be graded higher than MS63. But it certainly wouldn;t surprise me if PCGS did not see it that way.
As for the rim dings did you open the larger pictures and look ? As for the misaligned dies - look at the bulge on the bottom half of the coin just inside the rim, both obv & rev. That is not supposed to be there. It is the result of being struck with misaligned dies.
Remember we're looking at the picture and not the coin through a loup. I'd say aside from the marks above the date to the right, and a minor alignment (but that could be from the photo) it's a pretty good looking ms65.
OK snaz - let's do it this way. These are the very same pics, only I have cropped them to show certain portions of the coin. First look at the obverse. The first pic is how the coin should look if it were not struck with misaligned dies. Can you see the differences ?
The only alignment issue I still see is below the shoulders and date bottom and the back side. But still should be a 64-65
Before looking at any other posts, and with my extremely limited knowledge this is how I see the coin. It has beautiful color. Obverse: 2 small dings on forehead at left above eye. Coat detail does not seem complete below mintmark level.
Hey!, wait!, I didn't get to finish my post... fat fingers and small keys...and stupidity. Might be small group of scratches on center of jacket sleeve. Maybe rim dings at 4 and 5 positions, unless it is extra metal on edge making appear as dings. Chip to right of I of IN should not distract from grade. Small field dings which should not distract from grade. There might be some very small dings on lettering of motto, but this should not distract from grade because they are not in the focal area. Reverse: Design drifts slightly south. Maybe misaligned dies, which could also account for the apparent doubling in E P of E Pluribus, on S of States, on AMER_CA of America. There might be a strike through above the second leg of N in CENT, or it could be the light color evident over the surface. The strike seems a little bit weak on the second S of States, and the second A of America, and V of VDB. A scratch east of E in ONE. A few minor rim dings at 11, 7 and 2 positions. Some of these minor anomalies might be a result of the multi-colors of the coin. Overall, probably an MS64 RD/RAINBOW. Although I do not know if they grade in RAINBOW. Okay, so I might have made a fool of myself for trying to grade this out-of-hand, but at least I am learning something everytime I try. jeankay
I'll give it a 65 Red. Not sure if misaligned dies reduces the grade but it's a real nice coin, Is it yours, Jack? Bruce
Hey Jack, gorgeous coin! I'd give it a MS-65 R/B, but PCGS probably gave it a MS-66 R/B IMHO. I love that color. :thumb: Phoenix