MS-67RD (I am going to assume that the spot below the "C" on the reverse was not there when it was slabbed)
ms65rd - those lines on the obverse shouldn't detract from the grade since they are die polishing lines, correct?
If the scratches you're talking about are the ones in the field , they are raised die lines from polishing the dies , thus won't or shouldn't affect the grade . I went 66 .
Most of what you see on the obverse are die polish marks which really are not so visible in hand. Outside of that, it has a nice full strike great luster and minimal nicks. That sounds like a 67, but there are those spot on the reverse. They are not big enough to be a major problem. but they are noticeable. NGC wound up at 66 and I think that is about right.
I thought the luster would carry it. The reverse spot is tricky, it may not have been there at grading. It could have even been introduced during slabbing. Is that a little tick above and to the right of the O in ONE? It's a little outside the normal area for planchet marks. I assumed the little hit below the NT in CENT was on the slab. Field hits really hurt a gem coin grade.
From what I've learned here , is they don't affect the grade . Dick could answer it better as he's seen more and knows more about grading Lincolns and grading in general .
I am sure they do to some extent, but definitely not much. The first problem is that they only shine like that in a picture. You see them in hand (with a loupe), but they are closer to a matte surface than a glaring distractions they appear to be in a picture. Maybe a close approximation would be on the old silver/gold coins with weight adjustment marks. They would literally scratch off some metal (at the mint) to put the weight in spec. There can be several scratches, but they still get high grades.
