1930-S Lincoln

Come on, don't be shy...I know most of you aren't experts so this is how you learn. I don't make too many posts like this a year so now is your chance to have a good discussion.

The coin is not in a slab, there is no wrong answer..IT'S ALL FOR FUN AND LEARNING! If you're not sure - TAKE A WILD GUESS - nothing to lose.

How about a little apple dance to get some posts?

To help, I'll toss out another photo:. Tell me what you think you see in this?

I'll play. I would grade it AU-58 details. The friction on Lincoln's cheek and jaw hold it back. The scratches on the lower left corner of the portrait are enough to give it a details grade. It's definitely a slider because of the completeness of the luster.

The weakness with the reverse is due to strike. For some reason this is very common for this series.

The obverse blotches concern me. Mild PVC residue?

Here's a another hint, this coin is EDS (Early Die State). San Fran was well known to over-use dies but their quality was improving by 1930. From what I recall, the workers jobs were on the line after producing so many horrible coins in the 20's. The dies used to mint this coin were in excellent condition, all of the devices are sharp and there is no merging of the mottos into the rim.

Definitely no PVC nor verdigris. There are a couple carbon spots on the obverse but that's all they are. I believe the breaks in the toning are an artifact of either the storage conditions, slight variations in the metal that affected the toning or impurities that were pressed into the surface as the coin was minted.

Another good observation! The shoulder is a design high point that requires a lot of metal to fill the die.

Common to Lincolns, weakness in the shoulder, cheek, jaw and temple is fairly normal on many early-date branch mint cents. When the striking pressure is too weak, these areas are poorly formed as the die doesn't completely fill. Often marks on the planchet do not get erased and manifest themselves on the coin.

The mark on the shoulder doesn't show the displaced metal typically seen on PMD. The "edges" of the mark are smooth leading me to believe it was on the planchet BEFORE it was struck but the striking pressure was too weak to smooth it out. I don't think this is PMD.

This is a very nice coin for that year. Nicely struck but I believe with insufficient pressure. I believe the coin has no PMD and is as minted, with very few light nicks. It appears as though, the areas on the obverse that appear weak correspond with the areas on the reverse. For instance, Lincoln's cheek and jaw correspond with the "S" in States and the "ME" in America on the reverse. Also, Lincoln's shoulder corresponds with the "O" in One. Neat conversation piece, I would grade at MS63RD conservatively.