I was going through my box of pennies looking for errors as I normally do. I stumbled across a 1978 Penny that caught my eye. It looked like sandpaper. Upon examining it under different magnifications its extremely rough. There is very little wear shown anywhere on the coin. The texture is pretty much universal across the entire surface of the coin. I've looked in all of my books and online and can not figure out what it is. IDK if the pictures do it justice. You can see the difference when I put it next to a polished cent. Please let me know any info or ideas that you have please.
That is my primary thinking but there isn't any damage to it, most chemicals are going to damage the finish
Look at the steps, ( or lack thereof ) on the reverse monument. Strong indication of acid ( on purpose) or burial in acidic soil ( natural I guess ). The surface tension of the acid prevents the retention of the smaller details as it works on the surface. The larger details will mostly be there, just reduced.
