WOW, that's pretty close! Thanks for posting, so far, you're ahead as the closest I've seen to mine. What did PCGS grade it at?
I have declared war on that mint mark. You will get to see half of my avatar a bit larger the day after tomorrow, but it'll be my last Lincoln for a while. I'm doing slightly larger pieces of copper for 2017.
I see that @SuperDave has the first major variety recorded for 2017. Fake News sPecial rePort The 2017 cent has corrected the lack of a mint mark on Philadelphia cents. All previous cents without the P will be considered No-P varieties (SD-01). The major coin grading services have announced all No-P cents are eligible for attribution and reslabbing with special labels, for a nominal fee of $20. This is my 1923 No-P. This is MS-65 in an NGC holder. I don't have No S to post. Edit: Fake News sPecial report #2 In a little known report, it was revealed that since the typeface for the Lincoln cent is a sans-serif font, all mint marks were intended to be without serifs, as well. However, due to resentment by the mint director of the hiring of an outside sculptor for the cent design, he quietly directed the branch mints to insult the designer by using serif fonts. Some research was done to determine the proper typeface for the P mint mark. This early prototype was recently found circulating in South Philly - oddly enough at Lincoln Financial Field, next to the home of the Phillies.
The 1924-D just arrived yesterday, barely in time to join the other two in this lineup. I think it has some crud that detracts from its appearance. Perhaps a quick swish in acetone will find the sweet spot between "too dirty" and "too clean". The 1924 was discussed last June in post #3292. The 1924-S was shown in #4074. These are new photos.
Xylene would be a better choice IMO....but I doubt it will change much. In general, xylene is a better choice for copper.
@BadThad, I did start with Xylene, and let it soak while I went to lunch. You were right, it didn't change much. WARNING: Those of you with sensitive dispositions should not read the rest! Now I figure that people are comfortable with handling coins with cotton gloves, so I surmise that gently touching a coin with an extremely soft fabric will not mark it. I put a few drops of VerdiCare on the front, then took a cotton Q-Tip and gently swabbed the dirt away. I flipped it over and did the same thing. I could see that black dirt was on the cotton - so there had to be less on the coin. I repeated, then gently, gently, removed any visible liquid with a cotton pad that my wife uses to remove makeup. Then I let the VerdiCare that remained air dry. (The Q-Tip is horrifying enough. You don't need the image of me waving the coin around in the air to dry it!) I took these two pictures with the same lights, same angles, and both are 1 stop underexposed. Due to very slight differences in positioning the toning may not be catching the light in quite the same way. Almost all of the unattractive spotting is gone. Only the ghosts of the spots remain in ONE CENT and on both sides of the right wheat ear. The big blob over LIBERTY is almost gone. While the VerdiCare still needs a day to fully cure, the coin looks glossier, richer, and has a smoother gradation of colors. The reverse shimmers with rainbow color. Before After
Thank you. I don't do this to be rude, or to boast about finding coins, but I have to post another seller's picture. I think we all have opinions on the Wild West inconsistency of eBay. All I had to work from was a hint of detail in the features and some reflections that promised a little luster. There are vague color changes that could be toning. Are they dark and blurry to hide the dirt? How do you expect to sell a nice coin like this 1924-D if you post these photos? I was the only bidder and this cost me just under $100. If GSC had photographed it in their glamorous style, someone would have paid, oh, ten times that. At least this lets me acquire things I could not otherwise afford.
You, sir, are a winner. Chances are the seller had no idea the coin was worth being slabbed in EF....
These are upgraded photos of the ones in post #4097. Again, this is a year where the three coins cover the range of red, red and brown, and brown. Pretty soon I will have cycled through to the point where I posted current photos and then jump to the mid-1940s.