Can I please get an opinion on this Lincoln. The reverse seems OK but the obverse has what looks like a bad attempt of recoloring. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks, regards.
I don't think so. The obverse appears to have red corrosion on it. The red corrosion is rarer than the green version, and a fair number of people don't view it as a defect. it's been my experience that it does not spread with proper storage.
Thank you, I'm not very knowledgeable about this subject and it didn't look right especially under the liberty. Thanks again, much appreciated.
obverse looks like Copper(I) oxide Cu2O or cuprous oxide to me. this color can manifest in a wet environment, with the addition of acid and a chloride for a period of time, like a fountain or pool or something like that. toning. a lot of times they tone brown from the air, sometimes toward yellow or red, with an acidic chloride water involved, or toward black (Copper(II) oxide CuO), depends on the environment and the contaminants involved. CuO would be from an alkali instead of an acid, and phosphates. maybe a ground environment? the green/blue type is like the statue of liberty Copper oxide CuO, cupric oxide, the basic copper and oxygen with sulfides and other air based contaminants. I am not a chemist, and there is some chemists here who I'm sure will correct me, so I might not have it completely right in the "how" or "why" but it can occur naturally given the right environmental factors. As far as only on one side, who knows, one side got worn down more than the other after it happened? maybe it was sitting face up with a pocket of air under it? hard to say. the statue of liberty went solid green in about 5 years, and went to the pale blue grey green shade we all know after about 30 years.
the statue of liberty went solid green in about 5 years, and went to the pale blue grey green shade we all know after about 30 years.
The coin possibly was in an album and the obverse was exposed to the elements, causing the difference. Just a thought.
The obverse was corroded long ago, you can see the pits in the fields, but has toned over pretty well. The corrosion was removed and it retoned - the brown patina was replaced with oxidized copper + various gunk to make that color. This is a good learning coin. When you see a deep brown patina like that on one side, it should look the same on the other side. For this coin, you can still see traces of the original patina on the obverse but the corrosion affected it.