I'm having a hard time getting a good picture of the color. That said, I don't think the color is really off in hand. The thing that has me thrown off is the spot on the reverse between the A & M which makes me think lacquer and the grunge in Liberty, which make me think the same.
I'm tempted to agree, possibly an old cleaning to hide some of the carbon spots. There is also wear in the hair plus a couple of hits.
Is there such thing as MS details? I think I've seen AU details before but can't remember ever seeing a MS grade - is it that anything done to the coin automatically makes it no longer a MS coin?
Definitely worn, definitely cleaned IMHO. That color is typical of cleaned large cents. I have seen tons over the years. Be careful to not "blame" the person who cleaned it. Its likely the coin was black and borderline corroding when it happened. Many times such cleaning is the best way to save what is left of a coin.
Yes. It's called Uncirculated Details. Take a coin exhibiting no signs of wear then scratch it and submit it to your favorite reputable TPG and see what comes back. Don't really do all that just search eBay for an example, you'll find one quickly.
I agree it's cleaned, but at least it's got good eye appeal still. If you sent it in, it would likely get AU details. I do wonder if it might benefit from a soak in some VerdiCare, however. Depending what the "crud" you're talking about is, that might take it off.
White Balance is off on the images; that's what is throwing us off on the color. Therefore we can't form anything but guesses as to surface originality, and the images are too small to be positive about technical features. From this, it looks like a perhaps-softly-struck slider.
