1912 S Lincoln Cent

Tpatna, I agree on 20 for an approximate grade. The color worries me. There was a seller on the bay that use to sell the prettiest chocolate brown coins you ever wanted to see. I bought one early on and the color was just too uniform and not quite the right color. Well, the coin cost about 20 bucks so I was not too concerned. After awhile, I decided to put it into acetone and you guessed it, off came the color (or a lot of it anyway). For what it is worth, this coin has a little of the same appearance on the screen.

Jim

I would call it a F-15.

I think it is more of a F-15 than a VF20 since the reverse shows a lot of wheat lines gone. VF20 definition above says no worn spot on wheat heads, and clearly there is wear on the wheat heads, so I couldn't give this a VF20 based on that definition.

I think the right Tim F-12 F-15

Thanks guys. I will get a better look at it when it comes in the mail and maybe take new pictures. I was think VF-25 as well. I got it for $30.00

According to the second edition of the PCGS Guide to Coin Grading and Counterfeit Detection (there's a mouthful!), a VF-20 Lincoln Wheat cent meets the following description for reverse wear:

"Most wheat lines are blended, with a few separate."

They provide clear B&W photos for each grade level and the one that most closely matches Tim's coin is probably the VF-25 photo. Apparently you are at a VF-35 level if all the lines are separate, since that description says "Some of the wheat lines are beginning to blend."

If PCGS is the gold standard for grading, then my conclusion is that low-end VF coins will have many blended wheat lines and high-end VF coins will have lines that are basically separated.

It certainly sounds like grading standards for circulated Lincolns have loosened up a bit.

The ebay id I got this from is GUINESSOENTERPRISESCOINS and they have a 100% out of 6191 transactions....hopefully this coin has not been cleaned