Retooling an already tooled and cleaned half eagle?

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But it's not Mint State, and by the definition of "Mint State" can never be Mint State again. It did not come from the Mint that way. I would accept the term "Uncirculated Details" applied to this coin, but "Mint State" is inappropriate and deceptive.

 

A cleaned and tooled coin is not Mint Stare. Period, despite what some of these creative dealers try to sell to the contrary. The suggestion that some "retooling" may be in order is beyond outlandish.

 

To get back to the coin in question, the field tooling was probably done to smooth dings and nicks. It was likely done with a cylindrical tool with a rounded end. The end was pushed into the field and used to burnish it. The tooling is most obvious on the obverse above Liberty's bangs and above the front of her cap. The post-mint engraver (I'm being polite here) had to angle the tool in the area above the bangs and cap front, and created little ridges with the edge of the rounded area on the tool. To do it right (so to speak), he should have used a narrower tool that could have been kept perpendicular in that area. What a shame the coin was messed with!

Cal

 

I just looked up tooling but don't know how to recognize it.

When I compared this coin to my PCGS Photograde app photo.
The photos in the app have:

• a longer bust,
• the chin and all of the front face is longer
• doesn't have that weird smirk;
• Liberty isn't skewed to the side as much,
• and no pic that I've found has her wearing a hat (except the Capped Bust Halves which are 1807+ and facing the opposite way).

So I would have skipped the coin. But as I said, what do I know as I'm more of a novice anyways. But it appears to be legitimate from the experts here.

And I hate slabbed coins because I like to look at them up close and in detail and not through a piece of plastic.

 

None of the bullets above apply to this coin as the only thing tooled is the field.