Thanks so much for the thoughtful replies!

As far as theories to how it happened, I believe it is possible the PO was Edward Scissorhands. Alternatively, the only tools available to PO were a few rusty 10 penny nails. Honestly, when I bought the bike off of the bay, I suspected there might be an issue with the rims, and the photos did not lie. I did ride them as shown for a few months, so they are not terrible, but maybe eat up pads (rare 7400 ones at that), and just bother me aesthetically.
There are similar scratches to paint under top tube, as if hung on sharp metal hooks. Who would do such a thing?
Otherwise, bike in great shape.
Original spokes look fine, no raccoon incidents.
Never knew there were spoke marking, like silversmiths. Thanks for link gugie. Mine have “S” with round dot at center of S. Honestly, I thought it might mean stainless, doh!
Will look at burnishing, filing, or sanding see if it can improve.
But noobinsf did exactly what I was thinking, so will probably end up going that route!