Loving the Unloved: Woody Lincoln Cent Burns a Fiery Red

We often do not think about Lincoln cents when we search for evocative patterns of corrosion. Yet, the wheaties were in pockets, purses, and registers for half a century, and many were lost in the parking lot or beneath the hutch.
   Despite these large numbers, striking examples with original surfaces set afire by corrosion are hard to find. You can search dealer junk bins at a big show or browse hundreds of EBay listings on Saturday morning and not find one that grabs you.
   Where are they?
   Well, many are still in the parking lot. Folks don't pick up pennies anymore.
   Others are buried in rolls or bargain bags of wheaties. Most dealers will not waste a 2x2 holder for a "scudzy" coin. Of course, they are cheap when found -- unless you have to buy the whole roll or bag.
   One approach is to check the scarce dates -- like this 1914-S. These are set aside as fillers. Fillers? What are fillers anyway?
   I try not to buy a coin that I am already unhappy with. What's the point. I might fall out of love with a coin, but I do not add a coin that is just a place-holder. It is important to remember that necromancers do not fill penny boards -- instead, we look for magic.
   This one is not a filler. It has magic. It was lost, probably looked for, and then found (and saved from oblivion -- probably due to the "S" mint mark). The act of saving it made it special. We animate the coin.
   It was probably a woody cent when it first began to tone. I have seen this pattern before: first streaks, then blotches, and finally reds, browns, and blacks. The alloy mix was unfriendly at the start. The surfaces were charged up and unstable. But once the cent found its hiding place, moisture and soot pushed the issue.
   Now it is a piece to behold. It looks pained. And, there is complexity in the grimace. An artist could not have brushed it more expertly. This cent exhibits the awful beauty that jots us to pay attention -- of course, red tones never fail to excite.