1938 LWC Strange Color And Striations - ID Help, Please

First responder here. I'm not an expert but perhaps can offer some assistance until the more experienced can arrive. To me, the parallel striations appear pre-strike due to grove continuations across fields and devices, as well as in protected areas. I understand that striations on planchets may be common but are usually obliterated during the strike unless that strike is weak. UNITED appears weak, suggesting this, but don't know if laminations would also be more common. The uneven striation distribution to the left of Lincoln's head is odd, unless that is an area of very weak strike pressure.

Improper alloy mixture, common with this ear. I like it.

Is your coin under weight? The reverse rims look very weak.

Yes, the weight is consistent with an unworn, unburnished cent of that year. I was curious if the striations on this coin are incuse (grooved into the fields) or texturally flat. Do "woodies" include both types of striations?

I had one very similar to that a few weeks back you can check out the post here

https://goccf.com/t/253523

ruling was woody & lamination (de-lamination)

The portion of this cent which resembles what I have thought of as a "Woody" is the area at the top of the head and the corresponding area on the Reverse. I see the striations as something different than an "improper alloy mix". I suspect that it is related to the process of rolling before blanks are cut. There is speculation in the literature, especially with respect to Morgans, about the cause and mostly seems to be just that - speculation!

I am also curious about the color and suspect it is a Brass planchet, but I do not really know what that means (!)

I have done some calculations, and I could be wrong, but I come up with a Brass Cent being approximately 0.14g lighter than a Copper Cent.

In my experience in weighing cents, I find that a variance of +/- 0.04g is not at all uncommon.

So, I am not convinced that the weight removes this Cent from consideration of it being Brass.

Assuming, however, that it is not Brass, what would be the explanation for the color?

The nominal mass of an unworn 1938 cent is 3.11 g with a total variance of about 0.04 g as you said. Your cent at 3.16 g is on the upper edge of tolerance. The normal alloy has a density of about 8.8 g/cc. Depending on composition, brass will have a density between 8.4 g/cc and 8.7 g/cc, so an unworn brass cent should weigh between 2.98 g and 3.09 g. Taking variance into consideration, this expands to 2.94 g and 3.13 g. Your cent is 0.03 g beyond the tolerance... not a lot, but significant. The lighter colored brass would also be on the low side of the range.

So why the light color? I don't know. In general, do weak strikes translate to lighter colored coins? Color is dependent not only on chemical composition and toning but also surface roughness on the micro to nano scales. Solid strikes obliterate striations, so it's not far-fetched to speculate that surface roughness and color are also influenced.