1892 BN Indian Head Cent (Grade For Fun, Educational)

Hello hello,
This one I am posting more for "fun" and also to hear some feedback from the community about grading coins in general. I figure this post could serve future community members and googlers as well.

I am new to the hobby and have invested many hours lately into books, google searches and youtube videos to learn about coin grading specifically. However, there is only so much I can learn from this before I need more "direct" feedback.
So I will describe how I look at a coin, using this 1892 Indian Head cent as my example.

First I look at the coin and get a quick baseline to start with. This one obviously looks brown, and good detail without obvious damage other than a couple black marks which could be any number of things, so I'll start it off as a BN and a MS63-64 as our highest potential, then work down from there (or sometimes up).
(Lincoln is here for reference of luster)



Now a quick look at the back.. and darn. a few more spots. Ok so we're looking at low 60s at best now unless those spots are just a darker tone or something natural (please I hope its not environmental damage or carbon build up).



Now I'll turn the coin through the light to examine detail, wear and "damage" of the coin to see if it's even MS at all, or if I can find obvious signs of wear to drop it down to AU. First the obverse. I look at the lower hair & diamonds first, to see if they are flattened (worn) or still have detail. Also the tips of the feathers, cheek, hair above ear and any other high points first. Looks pretty good actually. Don't like the few black spots but she's got a pretty face at least. A couple marks on her cheek but no big dings or scratches. Doesn't look like my other pennies that were cleaned/polished. Wear could be a weak strike and/or from sliding in/out of holders.. unsure. ok not bad on the obverse. We'll look at the black spots in a minute.




Now I'll do the same with the reverse of the coin. A couple black spots, most noticeable on the E in ONE and along the edge at about 2 o'clock. The other black spot on the E in CENT doesn't appear nearly as noticeable now.



And a quick peek at the dirty edge tells me this coin has been handled, probably by collectors. A clean edge would raise suspicions of cleaning.



Now through the loupe on the reverse I see a few spots, but overall there isn't much wear. A few dings on the rim, unsure about the black spot on the E in ONE. Shield looks good albeit dirty.



Now through the loupe on the obverse.. good detail, not much wear, could be a weak strike and/or wear from sliding in/out of holders by collectors throughout the years.




And finally those darn ugly spots.. Unsure what they are, looks just like natural toning/reactions going on.





So my best guess is:
(not likely) AU details environmental damage
(somewhat likely) AU58-MS62 depending on black marks
(Probable) MS63
(Hopeful) MS64 depending on black marks


phew.