Is this plausible? Die polish question..

spoon

I've had this Russian 2 kopek piece for a while and finally took some pics of it. This thing has been bugging me forever. It has such a luster that it looks enameled. I looked it over with a magnifying glass and saw no marks (other than the rim ding at 5:00). It looks as if it could grade MS-69 at least! But this odd sheen.. I don't know what to think of it. Perhaps it was dipped in some protective coating. If so, it's a very thin layer. But I'm wondering if it could be something else, something from the mint: die polish? There is a chunk of something at 10:00. It looks waxy, like a polish, but is rock hard (I poked it with a needle.. I know, I shouldn't!). Then on the opposite side some of the oak leaves look a little less than you'd expect for such a sharp strike. The bottom-most one gives it away though--it's filled in! So it seems there was some sort of residue impacted on the die, enough to fill an oak leaf. My question then is if the die was so heavily polished, polished in a way that did not scar the die but rather left polish slopped on, could it be that this odd luster/enamel effect could be hardened polish tranferred from the die??

Pic of the reverse. This really doesn't show the effect I'm talking about very well.. I must have taken 30 shots of this and it wouldn't show as in-hand in any. The obverse has the same odd effect but an exceptionally sharp strike, showing no defects.


Detail of the artifact:


Detail of the filled leaf:

1960NYGiants

It may have been lacquered. I have a Canadian large cent with a similar look to it.

Gene

spoon

Ah, here's a better pic:

1jester

It may have been whizzed and then lacquered. Have you looked at it under a scope or a 16x loupe?

rhound1977

It seems too look suspicious, I have seen copper with that waxy look before, one was lacquered, the other had been cleaned and possibly wiped with
vaseline or oil of some sort?

AuldFartte

I've seen many US Large Cents with a similar look to them ... all had been coated in "Blue Ribbon Coin Conditioner", a supposedly protective product which gives the coin an artificial sheen like that. I don't think it damages the coin at all ... just looks a bit "funky".