Opinions On A Merc (26-D, MS?)

i have it at AU58 also. hopefully the fields do not show any type of tampering

58

I know you said your having trouble with your camera but your in hand pics are showing a cleaned washed out coin or a dipped coin . Hope better photos will prove I'm wrong .

the new photos lighting is washing out the surfaces to determine originality. artificial light is difficult to photograph. I suggest natural light

AU55 - believe I see luster!

Definitely not an MS coin, but is high AU.

Thanks everyone. I'm glad I only paid $29 for this as I have come to see the error of my ways, like a mirage, I imagined I saw real luster...but in the end...alas, it is just a shiny coin. This is likely why no matter how many obverse photos I took, the result was always FLAT surfaces with respect to brilliance, hue, color, etc. I received this coin the same day as the 26-S, and so was evaluating both together, I should have picked up on the fact that the 26-S has more real (cartwheel) luster in its worn state than its shiny denver sibling here. The owner of my LCS was the one who schooled me. Handing me a Gem BU 1940s specimen for comparison...well, there's no comparison when you hold real luster next to a flat polished surface. For me, this may be the most nuanced numismatic detail to master (or at least get smart(er) about), and I find it immensely important from a true- to-the-science (numismatics) sense, for quality and originality. I'd rather have a high AU example with real luster than this washed out polished specimen. Funny, the LCS owner says he'd market a coin like this as "BU". So, maybe I can trade at a coin show, for now it's in the collection but flagged for upgrade (onward and upward, towards the luster).