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I would concur. To me, definitely an 1859

Spot on - just die fill, and very common.

It is definitely 1859 (1839 has the 3 in a very different font to this as does 1869 with its 6) and the date has been dinged - a gouge upwards from south -west to north-east as it were, of the 5. Zoom in on the 5 and it's very clear. The "ghosts" on the letters you mention are just signs of letter repair on the die. Nothing numismatically significant here, sadly.

I've had a chance to take another look under a microscope today and I think Martin is right, they aren't as prominent as the colon dots now so I think they may be corrosion.

Known as Die Fill. It's where the hollow in the die, in this case the T, starts to fill with grease, so preventing the metal flowing into that area, when struck. A common occurrence.

And back to the original topic. Today marks the 3rd anniversary of Svitlana landing at Manchester after fleeing Kherson. Time has passed very quickly and I will say it's been a pleasure, with not a single argument arising from her staying with us. Good mannered, clean, we all muck in and I don't think it could have gone better. A few things have happened which were unwelcome, such as her father dying last year, but was unable to get back for the funeral. And this year her mother has finally had enough of the drones and bombing of her village (Bilozirka) not too far from Kherson and gone to live with Svitlana's sister. 3 years on and nothing has changed. The Russians are still lobbing 3 or 4 dozen shells a day into Kherson and drone dropping on anything that moves. They don't want peace. It's Russia. Please Europe, wake up now that Trump has shown his true colours and support Ukraine to the necessary level. We can afford it and Ukraine would make a more reliable friend than the US in the current political climate. Ignoring Trump would not have much of a cost, given his lack of support for the cause, and we can all hope that once he has gone, some sanity will return to US politics, with support for democratic policies and countries. As an astute businessman, he should be embracing Ukraine's offer to purchase a couple of Patriot systems, but his loyalty to Putin and all he stands for has scuppered that one.

A bit like this one…this is a 7a

I've added it to my site so please let me know if the "dots" are easily removed.

Corrosion spots often are raised as chemical changes break through and push up from below the surface. Essentially what is the question is: is the dot original metal (caused by a recess or incuse mark on the die and thus "proud" metal when transferred to the coin), or the product of corrosion. Given the number of other marks, I do fear it may be the latter. A gentle pick with a SOFT object (eg. dampened matchstick, or a fingernail) may remove or scratch through a corrosion deposit but won't affect solid metal. Hope that may help...