Utterly Worthless, But Very Attractive 71-D Lincoln Found

I love the design of the Lincoln Cent so much that sometimes I will keep a common date coin just because I like the way it has aged into a virtual work of art. Also, by observing a coin taken out of circulation, I feel that I am seeing the different ways a coin can look without being cleaned. This one is a good example, as I think it is very pretty the way the fields are a nice chocolate brown, while the bust, Memorial, and all letters are highlighted. If I saw this coin for sale (let's imagine it's a different date), I would probably steer away on the assumption that it had been cleaned or at least buffed. But it is hard to imagine that this utterly common coin would have been subjected to any modification and then put back into circulation (please correct me if that's an incorrect assumption for some reason). Anyway, bottom line, after all these years, Mr. Brenner, Mr. Gasparro, and many mint workers still deserve our applause. Until recently, I would not have said that about the Memorial variety, but I'm evolving on that subject.

Another random thought is that this coin is the same age as a 1919 would have been when I first started collecting, and I would have been excited to find that. Hence I suppose the lowly Lincoln remains the gateway for young collectors still.

Topic for another day (which may have been discussed before): give examples of coins that do or do not look attractive at advanced stages of wear.

Footnote: I put this here instead of the CRH forum because my main interest is design, and this coin came from my pocket, but obviously moderators can move it if I erred.