Obverse shows raised group of die gouges and chips. Looks like the die a really damaged in this area. Being raised like this it doesn't look like PMD. It does show wear from circulation.
That's pretty cool IMO. And good pics of it BTW. I find coins with gouges and such on the edges in rolls fairly often. Sometimes they are interesting enough to put aside and photograph, like this one.
I believe this is PMD - notice the 'hits' on the rim, and it looks like the coin has been polished or buffed a bit. I can't explain exactly what caused it, but in my opinion, it's damaged surfaces, and not an error of any type.
Looks as-struck to me. Raised coin metal. Looks like the die was bumped against or more likely dropped onto a piece of sandpaper and slid sideways a bit. The die hit the sandpaper surface on its corner. This is supported by the deeper and more extensive damage at the edge of the die, lessening toward the center, and the shape of the effected area. I also can't come up with an explanation for PMD that is not nefarious, and indeed if nefarious would require a great amount of skill to produce. Occam's razor.
I'm not sure either how this happened. I did notice the hits to the rim, but it didn't seem any more than anywhere else around the coin. Yes, it has seen some PMD across the coin from years of circulation. I would think that there would be indents with material pushed up at the indent edge area if it was struck by something post mint, but after 37 years of circulation...who knows!
