I ran across this while searching a couple of rolls of 1961-D Lincoln Cents. I can't figure out what's going on here. Inside the ear, there are rounded ridges that are not normally present. I see three sets of these. The middle triplet stands out under the zoomed-in image. The lower line(s) stand out in the microscope view. Thanks for looking!
I agree - it is easier to see in the full shots. I included the microscope pictures to show the detail. Could it be a die gouge? I'm really at a loss - at least I've found something interesting!
It appears like some localized polishing on the die. The fields and the lower portion of the ear are same level as the fields and are affected by die polishings as this is the outside of the die. They are too large to be lathe lines and don't appear outside of that area. So until the next polishing, the lines will probably remain on those coins struck with that gouge/polishing/die dent.
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