Is the strike on these usually so mushy on the reverse? I don't play with these often, but that strike is so bad I'd think it came from China.
Nope. Came from Philly. As to the strike, I'll defer to the opinion of the copper specialists. It might be a litte bit soft, but didn't look anomalous to me. I certainly had no difficulty swapping this to a dealer friend who liked it (and he's been known to use the name "KeeperOfTheCopper", so...)
It's pretty fun to try to guess the grades on these! Is the raised line at the edge of the rim from star 8 to star 10 caused by die deterioration or photography?
