The regular (and measurable) thickness of the stroke does lend itself towards the die gouge theory as opposed to an expanded crack, but the location coming right off the tip of the bust makes me think crack. This is a spot where die cracks are known to propagate from on many different issues.
I can understand that. My thinking is based on the apparent lack of the rim being involved. For a die crack in that position I would expect the rim to show evidence of the crack too.
Yeah, we're in complete agreement on the "peculiar" part. It's pretty wide, for a developed die crack, to be so shallow as to have not included the rim.
