I got this cent as a young and mostly broke collector and always figured it had enviro damage. Now I am wondering if maybe it came from rusted dies. The striations don't seem to affect the rims. It appears that the higher parts of the die are affected and the recessed parts are mostly unaffected. It also looks like there are grooves in the die above the hair and tiara.
You were correct in assuming that this was some sort of damage. There two options here: either this queen was buried in the ground for a very long time and then cleaned when it was recovered, or this poor coin was subjected to some acidic treatment. I'm inclined to believe, based on the color, that this coin was in the ground. Perhaps some collector found it and saved it. It is still fairly attractive, however damaged.
I agree with the grounder theory, I found the smooth rims perplexing though as usually the entire surface is affected. Wired brushed and toned back?
Environmental damage to the coin, not the dies. There are some large cent varieties that were struck from severely rusted dies, but this is not one. From the looks of it, the damage is old, the coin has retoned evenly and been handled enough to smooth down the high points evenly, i.e. the rim, leaves of wreath, chin/bust point, lower hair curl, etc. In terms of cause, these were sometimes also put into jars of pickles, maybe to help keep their color. Another possible cause of coins like these.
It feels like it was a metal detecting find. It looks like it had been in the ground and dug up. The surfaces were corroded, so the digger cleaned it up and carried it as a pocket piece as a reminder of his find. Carrying it in the pocket would explain the recoloring and the wearing down of the rims and high points. I bet the coin was lost not long after it was first struck, it might have been UNC or possible AU details when it was recovered.
