should be valued higher than a RB/RD coin, b/c any little carbon spots on a RB/RD coin will stick out like a sore thumb. What say you?
I have a hard time believing ANY 19th century copper can be truly RD. I personally avoid any graded as RD. Plus most (all?) will tone to RB over time. RB is fine by me for lower priced copper such as late date IHC's (1887-1909). Older (and pricier) IHC's are fine in BN for me particularly if they still show some original Red in the nooks and crannies.
Im not much of a collector of large cents or half cents but I collect a lot of early wheats from 1909-1919 and most of time I prefer these to be brown. MS64/65 brown examples from this time period, imo, are some of the best looking lincolns in the whole series, especially if they have some toning to them.
That's the "state" in which I'm personally most comfortable with their originality - hints of the original Red peeking out in places.
While RD coins can be really pretty, I would be worried that it could change to RB or BN while in my possession and then it'd lose its RD value. So dark brown copper coins are fine for me.