Should I Try To Grab This?

Note that the first coin you posted has NO image of the reverse.
I would not even consider that coin for just that reason.

Second coin looks very nice.

I can see one. Maybe he just added it.

Both are really nice looking coins. On the 1903, I also see a picture of the reverse. I personally think the toning on this coin is very suspect based on the locations of the different colors and a kind of unnatural look the coin seems to have. Under the word "CENTS" on the reverse, the toning seems to be hiding some significant scratches.

All of this said, the intricacy of the coloring makes one wonder if it were possible to achieve this much detail artificially. The seller claims the coin has full cartwheel luster. If so, the coin probably has not been altered as any artificial "improvements" will likely remove the cartwheel effect. The seller has a lot of toned coins for sale- not sure if this is a positive or negative. At $190 it's way up there- probably more than MS64 money. However the sellerdoes have good feedback and a 14-day return policy, so some of your risk would be mitigated if you don't like the coin.

On the 1902, the coin has a lot of die-flow lines which could partially explain the toning. In my experience, blue and/or purple toning usually occur when a coin has been in in a Whitman or similar album over an extended period of time. I agree with Carbert about the color spot on the reverse at 6:00. It seems to be obscuring some damage in one of the fields.

Other thoughts- the face has several significant scratches under the toning that would concern me as far as grade. Second, although the auction doesn't end until 2+ days from now, there are A LOT of bids. I find some of the bids suspicious- one bidder has placed more than 2,400 bids with this seller in the past 30 days (more than 80 a day). That same bidder has 308 bid retractions over the past 6 months.

Those facts would cause me great hesitation when bidding. Best of luck- let us know what you decide!

I love the guy's stuff, but he asks premium money for it. The 1903 is asking MS65RB money, and I'm not so sure a TPG doesn't call it AU58. And I think the 1902 has circulated as well, but the bidding is already nearing 63-in-a-slab levels.

I know- I was just mentioning that anyway. But you are right it would be smarter.

If you offered coins like RP Holder's, you'd have customers like that. In his specific case, I've no problem believing he has customers who buy from nobody else.

I respect your opinions. The seller in this particular auction (not RPHolder) has sold exactly 2 items to this buyer since April 7th. So if this buyer only wants to buy from this seller, how did he manage to place 2,923 bids in the last 30 days and win just 2 items? Just saying...

I totally agree with you Solotime. Some questions to ponder- is there any seller you bid with 46% of the time? And wouldn't you like/expect to win more than two auctions after taking the time to place more than 2,900 bids with your favorite seller?

Please allow me to add some additional perspective. Let's say each of those 2,900 bids took 20 seconds each. I think on average that's a reasonable estimate. That totals, in one month, 58,000 seconds, or said another way, 16 hours of time. 16 hours of time, to win 2 auctions. Let's also say, for the sake of intellectual discourse, that the coin collector placing these bids makes $20 an hour. That means this bidder spent $360 of his time to place more than 2,900 bids only to win 2 auctions. So the time burden to do this cost him $180 extra per winning bid. Does that seem like a workable model for a genuine collector?