Very General Grading Question

Check here and make sure you click on guideline on eye appeal http://www.pcgs.com/Photograde/#/Lincoln/Grades this should help you a little bit.
John1

Thanks, that's a lot of good info for a newb right there! I have generally just been picking the coins that overall "look better" and appear "less worn" Although there have been some tough calls, being I am unexperienced. Where I see a lot of good points of one coins, and some bad. Then the other coin of the same date has different good points and different bads. I will post a picture in a little bit of one coin that really confused me. Whether I should keep this one, or use one that is one solid color but dull brown. Thank you for taking the time to reply to me, I really appreciate it.

I would much rather have a full brown coin than one with verdigris like yours. Any of the green stuff basically kills any coin for me and I'm sure my view is shared amongsts many.

At the end of the day decide what you prefer. Personally I would prefer full red coins but many of the Australian ones I collect are too expensive like this so I settle for pleasing brown toning but with full detail and little to no wear.

Also watch out when talking over an exposed copper coin, your mouth will let tiny (minuscule) droplets of saliva spray and fall onto the coins, while not visible right away, give a year or too and you will almost certainly have carbon spots growing , very noticeable on a full red example. I tend to stay away from reddish coins, as they are likely to change into brown coins eventually if not stored properly, I have a few that have really changed since I left Colorado and moved to SoCal, then to Texas. The varieties of humidity in the air and salt water in SoCal, surely contributed to some of my coins changing color, Colorado has a very dry climate, (another reason the ANA settled on Colorado Springs as home base). Collections stored in a controlled environment are apt to stay in a similar condition, ones that move around a lot and experience varying temperature and humidity levels don't fare so well. Storage is key when collecting full red copper coins!




That is totally up to you and your preference, I don't think it really matters one way or another, but if it's a major variety that adds value then sure why not include it. If you are looking to get pristine examples in the best condition you can afford, then you probably want to get coins with a minimum of problems from the planchet or the die, so no die breaks, Cuds, etc.