Another 1972 Lincoln Cent

Yes, debris filled die and also a slight MAD

I can't see the nose area enough to tell what is going on there. It does appear to be a nice struck though grease error. I wondered if it could have been an over polished die, but can't tell for sure.

But note on this example a die scratch SE/NW of the nose area. It may have been a die scratch that we are seeing on the nose area of your coin?

One more attempt -

Hi Dar - no problem. 'Witness Mark' is a term used in metal stamping/metal fabricating facilities normally to describe visible markings left on a surface. When forming a bend in a brake press, a piece of sheet metal may have burnish marks where some material has been scraped away by the hardened steel tool/die used to create the bend. On crude fabrications, the marks are readily visible. On specialty work, setup guys and operators might use a trick or two to minimize the 'witness mark' left behind. The term is used more broadly around a shop.

In my usage, I'm noting that there is a mark on the coin above by Lincoln's forehead/hairline where something harder than copper came in contact with the coin leaving the coin with a mark/scrape/burnished material. The silent 'witness' to a crime...so to speak. I hope this helps a bit.

Thanks Coop. I never really noticed the coins with 'grease' errors until looking through a pile of 1983s. Since then though, I see several examples especially amongst later LMCs. I suppose these errors have existed all along though. Despite the gouge (always seems like when you find something interesting, there's always something or some kind of detractor) I'll set this one aside. If nothing else, when compared to the 1983s I've set aside, this one is the most prolific example of grease.

Normally we would think of a die gouge when the term is used. But this time it is a coin gouge that damaged the coin.