1974 D Cent Die Clash?

Your pics are great!

Correct. The Mint workers found the clash and tried to scrub it out with tools. You can usually see the difference between the initial die polishing and subsequent clash removal. Die polishing tends to run in the same direction as they just want to smooth out the new die before putting it into service. Removing a clash is harder because many clash marks are mingled among the devices, so they end up scrubbing in many different directions trying to remove the evidence. Also, those scratches tend to be rougher and sometimes deeper than ordinary polishing.



You can see here where a Mint worker scrubbed out a die clash on a bicentennial quarter. The edge of the clash is still visible, so it must have been pretty deep, but you can see the big scratches where they scrubbed the finer details out from around the stars.

That is one of the best examples I have seen for some time. Yes, you took very good pictures. Keep your coin in a 2x2 for protection.

Thank you for all the info everyone. Great info on something I didn't know about.