penny Cut Penny Question

[danii14]

Is this fake? How would I go about finding a date for this cent? One reason I don't believe it's fake is cause the color throughout the coin is the same. Even where it's cut.

[Just Bob]

It looks real.

"Cutting a penny in half" was once (and may still be) a common selling point for scissors.

As far as the date, I can only give a range: 1959, when the memorial reverse was introduced, to sometime in 1982, when the composition of the cent was changed to copper coated zinc.

Without the "AM" in America, that is as close as I can get. A Lincoln cent expert may be able to narrow it down further by looking at the portrait.

[Coinbuf]

There is no way to completely id the date only a range as Just Bob posted above.  I am not an error guy but I do not recall seeing a straight cut coin like that labeled as a clip so I would vote fake.  The fact that the cut side is the same color just means that it was subjected to the same environment that the rest of the coin was.  Looking at the color what I think happened is the coin was cut, with scissors or some tool, and then recolored with an agent like dellers darkener.

[LINCOLNMAN]

The slightly rounded cut end would indicate to me that the coin was cut with a bolt cutter or similar, and then simply oxidized over time. 

[danii14]

Pretty sure it's not fake. And I have most certainly seen coins like this labeled as clipped. Perhaps I should explain the back story.. I found this coin in an abandoned house. It's been vacant since the 60's. Everything I've read online about a clipped coin such as this tells me that it's a genuine error. The fading away detail on the clipped side. And the thickness of the opposite side of the coin is greater than the clipped side. Maybe my pictures weren't good enough. 

[Just Bob]

Let me clarify my above post. I think the cent is real. I don't think it is a mint error, though. I think it was damaged after it left the mint.