The striations from the center outward, or little pores on the coin are signs of die wear. As the die wears, the elements, specifically lettering, is pushed to the edge of the coin.
Welcome to Coin Talk!…while we do pop a few bubbles, being a killjoy is not our inherent nature. What you will get is the unvarnished truth. We strive for accuracy in all things numismatic. The “orange peel effect” is the result of eroded, worn out dies. The Mint overuses them because they produce coins for commerce, not collecting, hence the name “business strike”. The effect manifests itself as striations and a pebbly surface easily seen in the fields...like the skin/peel of an orange. Go to John Wexler’s website doubleddie.com. The articles on the site are a must read, in fact, are used as a reference source. Other accurate info sites are: ...Variety Vista, error-ref.com and lincolncentresource.com. There are many more you can find by search engine. Good Luck and welcome to the forum...Spark
Thanks for that! Great reference. Some very nuanced stuff, it's going to take a while to get the hang of it.
Welcome to CT. I’ve been a member here for a couple years and even though I haven’t made it rich with my pocket change, I am definitely acquiring a wealth of information that has helped me greatly. The folks here will give you honest and true feedback as long as you accept it and learn from it without argument.