I guess I see the loss of the added color as unfortunate because it removes some of the meaning which the artist and the portrait sitter felt was important to express - the vitality of the person depicted. Keeping in mind that the Civil War was so recently passed and the degree to which disease and violence could cut life short - that someone would pay more for such an upgrade is unsurprising.

Without the color, it tends more toward being just another black and white photo and more easily ignored - and that was clearly not what the artist and patron had in mind.