Geez Louise - Here we go again with the PMD BS. Try taking a look at the picture before you make your uninformed comment. The "damage" in the field is UNDER the design. Try giving an explantion as to how this might have been done outside the Mint. I personally can see no way this could be other than that there was damage on the die. If anyone has another explanation I'd be happy to hear it.
I don't know what caused those marks, but it is not PMD. Unless you think someone with a lot of spare time carefully placed those scratched in the field only and then replated the copper , again carefully, only on the scratches?