Good evening, I was considering purchasing this token, but I am unsure whether the lines on the surface are from cleaning or not. Thank you for your assistance. Seller's photos: (note that the obverse and reverse are almost identical)
I think so. If the die was polished the scratches wouldn't go over the lettering which would be unaffected pretty much. Looks like the scratches on fields follow through the lettering as well here.
That's the problem. I would rather not buy a cleaned piece, but there are less than 50 of these tokens know to exist.
In my opinion I think that it would be wise to purchase this piece. In the future if you ever have the chance, upgrade it to a non-cleaned one. But considering the rarity I would not risk the chance of loosing this one.
I see some streaks of copper toning slightly different. And I don't know what the series is supposed to look like. That being said those devices could be frosty. It's a gamble, ask for better photos.
I don't have high hopes for it having original surfaces. All of the Republic strawberry tokens I've seen have various degrees of fire damage and I could easily see someone trying to "improve" their token's appearance.
All that I am saying is that the strike says that the coin is weak around the top and around 9 o'clock that tends me to think that the die may have been lapped or polished. The devices aren't that rounded. Are these usually double sided?
I'm assuming it's a center punch made by the die maker. Here's a comparable dot on my "Earl's Tavern" token from Albany, WI. The dot is at the bottom left corner of the E in TAVERN.
