Full size photo not available I just thought someone may recognize the circle impression above his head thank you anyways
That usually indicates a worn die (die deterioration). As does on the reverse the die crack and the lines from polishing the die to make it last a little longer.
You have to actually ask a question and point us to what you want us to see and answer to. I don't think anyone here is psychic.
I agree with your observation of die distortion here's a couple more photos of another 87 with similar distortion my research indicates this is a foundry error in the metal composition another words a bad mix of metal at the foundry and any mechanic out there who's ever had to change a camshaft or crankshaft due to distortion knows exactly when a crankshaft goes out of round here is more photos of another 87P notice the marks on the back of the head are similar And on the reverse I would like to think these are stress fractures, This may not be proper language for what I am describing but I like to call this distorted bubbling defect on the hammer die due to molecule separation in the metal
