What is going on with this coin? ... new at this, Thanks for any help! 1 1

[bonesknows]

I'm new at coin hunting and found this amongst my pocket change. What causes this to happen to a coin? Is damage from after leaving the mint?

[Greenstang]

Yes, it is damage that occurred after the coin was struck.    
Doesn’t really matter what caused it, damage is damage.

[Coinbuf]

Welcome to the forum and thanks for the excellent photos, so much better than the norm.   Agree that this is simple post mint damage (PMD), heat, acid, even dried glue could all be possible reasons for how your cent looks.

[Henri Charriere]

🐓:  But if bonesknows, why does he ask?

Q.A.:  ... don't know... a 2d opinion, perhaps?  Lot of very knowledgeable people 'round here.  

[powermad5000]

Hello and welcome to the forum!

Without having the coin in hand, it could be hard to tell from the photos (which I also agree are excellent for a first post!) what caused the condition on this cent. It could be acid etched, a glue or epoxy sitting on the surface, it could have been done with a tool such as a Dremel or an engraving tool (there are some artistic people out there that practice on coins or intentionally change them to love tokens or such), it could have been run over by a vehicle in a parking lot, or it could have been face up in a strange environment noticing the condition of the coin on the reverse seems environmentally damaged as well.

There is nothing in the mint process that would produce a coin that looks like this so your initial assessment of damage was spot on!