Welcome to CT. Pic of the side view makes me think it was chopped with a pair of tin snips, damage after leaving the mint (PMD).
That also but without better pictures its hard to tell im not seeing the blakesly effect and it looks to perfect so I'm leaning towards what you said.
I don't think thats authentic,the raised line in the middle of it has me convinced its not it and just damaged.
It could be been Cut by a Metal blade . Here's a "Clip sheet" . Does it appear here ? It happens but rarely .
It's PMD! You can see that both blades of a pair of nippers met in the middle. If it had been a clipped planchet, it would cut clean through from top to bottom.
I wish I could give you 50 likes for that answer. I was trying to get to the end of the posts for my own answer and you beat me to it. This is sssoooooooo obvious. It was cut off with either nippers, like 9ball's picture, or it was done with side dykes or linesman pliers. Like this : 50083102 For only $12.98 at Lowe's you can get you own " coin error producing tool ".
It's a straight clipped planchet from the left or right edge of a zinc coining strip. If it were cut afterwards there would be exposed zinc on the edge. .... oops. Nevermind it's a 1981 it's copper. The nippers are correct. I've got to remember to absorb all the details before commenting next time....
Yep…. Cut in the wild as said. I had a kid come to sell me some expensive knife set not long ago. The set included some scissors. He demonstrated the scissors by cutting an innocent cent in half. Poor cent never had a chance.
Like you said. This is a 1981 Lincoln cent. The zinc Lincoln's did not start being produced until 1982. This cent you can clearly see the mark left by the nippers.
A planchet doesn't get punched out and meet in the middle. The machinery doesn't cut from both sides. Dozens of times, I've seen CuNi coins in which the outer layer covers the entire edge without exposing the copper core. It can do the same with an outer layer of copper regardless whether it's done by Mint equipment or PMD.