1886-P Morgan... tooled?

Pot/kettle anyone? I said mine was a possibility, you said it's exactly what happened. See the difference? Probably not...

 

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Because the other possibilities are so remote in probability considering the evidence that they are not even worth considering. See that? Probably not.

 

Best I could do tonight.

 

These new pics make it look even more like intentional damage. While reedmarks can and do occur, three parallel sets of nearly uniform marks like that are highly unlikely. You have the two on the breast, but with these new pics now I see a third set of marks in the eagle's left wing. Possibly even more in the right wing?

I still don't want to call it "tooled," but it definitely appears to me to be intentional damage of some sort.

 

These images confirm that it is just reed marks. In each pair of marks, the center ones are the deepest, which is consistent with the curvature of the edge. This is what I was expecting to see in the new images, and I was not disappointed. My theory is that, while in the bag, this coin was in contact with a short stack of coins positioned perpendicular to this one. Then when the bag was dropped or something, the “stack” impacted this coin, causing the damage seen here.



This image shows that there are marks on the groin, neck, and both wings. Last time I checked, there were no “ribs” in those places. The lateral displacement is consistent with a loose “stack” of coins.

 

I agree, tooled wasn't the appropriate term, but I believe this was intentional damage as well.

 

In case it is difficult to see. All of the other damaged areas have all of the hallmarks of coin-on-coin reeding damage. It seems like a stretch to assume the marks on the breast are not.

 

I would call it reed damage from contact with another coin or coins if it were not for the length of coverage. For me it is post mint storage damage of some unknown origin.

 

To put it lightly ..yeah its been altered. Not sure what the look was they were going for but ... beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
Altered and polished

 

Those are not reed marks.

 

I can't help thinking that the pareidolia shoe is on the other foot here.

I haven't examined that many contact marks on Morgans, but I sure haven't seen any reeding hits that were rounded like these. They've invariably been wedge-shaped, with a shallow point and a deeper base. The geometry of an edge hitting a face won't allow much else.

I'm away from my tools that would let me compare the spacing of those indentations to the spacing of Morgan reeding.

 

The effect you are referring to is when the edge hits the surface of the coin at an angle. However, if the impacting coin is roughly perpendicular to the surface, then the effect is exactly what you see here.

There really is nothing more to this coin.