I would think the pressure of the minting process would have eradicated any scratches on the planchet.
Under the date? What about the marks/colorization on top of the numbers too and in various other locations on the numbers?
A .005 mm pigment marker would probably be fine enough to do that but boy what patients and skill you’d have to have to fake that one! I think just a random stain myself. Reed
If the item is fine, can meta Would that type of marker create an incuse result between the numbers? I figured the staining on the numbers may have been from bleed of the groove between them.
It’s hard to see an incuse line under the numbers from the photo supplied I guess it only shows “in hand” but if that’s the case then we have a mystery. Reed.
Nice photos Kaye but with my old eyes I still just can’t see it. I wish I had it in hand to put under my old school optic binocular microscope. Stuff like your anomaly show up really great under my old Swift scope. Reed
No that’s okay I trust your judgement. After thinking about it if it is incuse as you say it is then it could well have been a scratched planchet that was struck over to produce the anomaly you see today. Reed
Since it's incluse the planchet was probably definitely or damaged in that area before striking occurred. After all. It is Zinc.