I know it is hard to tell from a picture, but is this Lincoln Cent "needle sharp"?

Longacre

I was looking at one dealer's website, and he described this Lincoln as "needle sharp strike". For those who know this series, would you classify this coin as such?

66RB

Longacre,

from the photo, (or scan, as it appears to be) it does not look needle sharp, although not too bad for that date/mm.

25-D's are usually mushy, a byproduct of overused dies.

The obverse is telling in that you can see the letters in the motto starting their slow progression towards the rim, a sign that the dies are beginning to deteriorate and lose their sharpness.

The letters in 'Liberty' are also mushy and somewhat indistinct

'19' in the date is also considerably less sharp than '25'.

On the reverse, I have found there are two areas one may see weakness. The 'O' in 'ONE' and 'PLU' in 'PLURIBUS' are the first spot I will look at, and on this example the 'O' is complete, but looks a little flat, same with 'PLU'. Also, 'OF AM' in 'USOA' is another area that will show evidence of die wear and deterioration. It's usually one area or the other that will show this weakness on the reverse.

I've attached a photo of the 25-D in my set, graded MS64RB. I never really considered it all that great of a strike, but I think it is better struck than the one you posted above. Mine is showing weakness at 'F AM' on the reverse.


Rob

Gemineye

No..........Not from that picture........