Richard Harrison wrote:

Roy, W7EL wrote:
"So tell you what. If you`ll pull out your equations and calculate the
expected current difference, I`ll replace the coil with one of 100 ohms
reactance and remeasure."

The challenge was directed to Cecil, but anyone can respond. The current
is a function of position along the antenna. Distribution is
cosinusoidal as Yuri said.

That's right. The distribution is the result of the superposition of
the forward and reflected currents. It's basically just one quarter of
a cycle of the standing wave pattern. When the electrical length of a
loading coil represents any significant fraction of the length of the
antenna, the superposition of forward and reverse currents at each end
of the inductor will result in different values. The difference is due
to the phase delay through the loading coil, as Cecil has explained.
Delay is an unavoidable artifact of propagation through wire - whether
it happens to be wrapped into a coil, or not.

73, Jim AC6XG