Beautiful 1916 Merc. - Are these clean marks ?

I hope that whomever won that auction does a close inspection.

What I'm seeing, is that it may be struck on another coin...or something like that, for better or worse. Could be a Roosie or something prior to WL. There appears to be lettering (or numbers) on the obverse near L I and to the left of 1916, under the neck of Liberty. Other areas, as well. Maybe I'm just dreaming, lol.

 

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The OP's picture will show it better, so you may want to reference his, but look at the places that I have indicated, and tell me if you think that this coin was struck on another.

 

Sometimes we get so caught up in the details that we fail to ask the larger, disqualifying questions. What candidate is there to satisfy your theory which measures less than 18mm?

On a more detail-oriented note, the only thing I see on the larger original images which seems anomalous is what looks like field beveling below and left of the date. The rest you've highlighted seems explainable via metal flow artifacts during the strike or polishing related to a previous clash (in front of the profile).

This one might be a double-whammy - a coin with serious clash-related die polishing which has subsequently been cleaned. I can't get over the fact that those heavy "brushmarks" ought to have appeared to proceed over the devices in these specific photos. Like I said before, I'd throw a few bucks at it to see exactly what's up.