@coinMD It is not wear, it is the result of a grease-filled die. This is an excellent example that can be used as a training tool. All of the (raised) horizontal lines that you see are from a harsh cleaning of the die to remove grease and debris. Chris
If you look at a lot of cents you will notice that the area in question looks like that on a lot of coins. Not sure why the grease tends to focus in that area, but it does.
Copper pipe always feels greasy to me. Grease accumulates on ALL areas of the planchets and ultimately transfers to the dies. Chris
If you think about it , as the planchets are struck , whatever grease is present will tend to follow the path of least resistance and accumulate in the areas where there are hollows on the opposing die. Thats why , often as not , Liberty and the date on memorial cents show grease build up on the obverse because of the void that is the building on the opposing die.
Definitely grease. The easiest way to tell is that wear will be uniform across the whole coin. Grease will only accumulate in selected areas.
