Are you saying you think you did it when opening/extracting it...? You sort of alluded to it but really didn't make it clear that's what (you think) happened. If it's any consolation to you, I don't believe it's staple scratches. These are deeper/wider than a staple would generally/glancingly make or be able to make, plus they don't appear to be recent...they look older. Could you have missed them when you purchased it and thought you caused them afterwards, or...? Still not sure what happened/when/how, but pretty confident those scratches aren't from staple(s). Move on, learn from experience, maybe look for another if this bothers you too much, but try not to let it by instead changing your focus to something else for a while.
Reading the post, he hasn't bought it. He offered the seller 50% but the seller is asking more like 75%. What occurs to me would be to mention the scratch to the seller and offer 40% (if you really want it) and tell him "good luck" on selling it with that hideous scratch...
Are we sure those are scratches? I'm just asking, I don't know. But from the shadowing it almost looks like it's sitting up.
Thats what is called a Yea...BUT coin. If you get the coin, as another pointed out, your eye will always drill right to the spot of concern. I learned that one very early with a beautiful Barber quarter, on one side. I hated it and practically gave it away just to get it out of my site. It felt sooo good. Cheer up, best to move on. This is my hobby, I do it for fun.
Ugh that stinks. History just took a staple scratch to the eye today (or, whenever it happened.) Kind of reminds me when you're buying an UNC coin from a lazy LCS and they say they'll put it in a flip for you...then put a big old thumbprint on the coin. Yeah...now I don't want it any more. Also reminds me of a 1939 DDR Jefferson Nickel I cherrypicked from eBay a while ago - was an NGC MS66, but had a little spot of corrosion under the steps. If that spot, which would have just gotten worse over time, hadn't been there I'd have kept the coin. There is always another coin, though. Just will make the reward/excitement so much sweeter when it happens for real. Good luck!
I bought a coin with essentially the same problem because I thought I really wanted it. But the staple scratch was too much for me to bear. Ended up with buyer's remorse and selling it for less than I paid. Lo and behold, a finer example surfaced about a year later! While it may seem a nicer example won't surface, I assure you it will with patience. But that buyers remorse will linger.