Bought this coin awhile ago from a friend for 10 bucks. Great price especially since that the silver is right around that. I always thought that these scratch marks were damage but could they be adjustment marks? I never knew about adjustment marks till I joined the site! Thanks for looking.
Looks like damage to me. They're rather deep to be adjustment marks, and, typically, adjustment marks will only go in one direction. They're from pre-strike filing of the planchet to reduce its weight to the correct standard.
I'm kind of torn with this coin, some of the marks have the look of adjustment marks and some have the look of damage. So I guess I'm gonna have to say I think it's a combination of both. Also, while Paul is correct it is also true that adjustment marks sometimes occurred post-strike. The weight was verified and adjusted if necessary twice - pre-strike and post-strike. This double check occurred because the minting of debased coins or underweight coins was so, very, very common that the coins being checked by two different people was necessary.
I wouldn't count on that. If they only had to pass the file over the blank one they will go in one direction, but if they filed, weighed and had to file again they could very easily go in different directions. (file it, put it back in the balance and weigh it again, then when they pick it back up and file again they don't make an effort to make sure they file in the same place and direction. In fact they would probably avoid doing so.) For example the adjustment marks on the $10 million dollar 1794 dollar go in different directions
