Sounds like you have an "acid job". A coin will end up being thinner and smaller than normal if immersed in certain acids or other corrosive...
Definitely damaged outside the mint. You see the same effect on "encased cents" (lucky token cents). The rim is pushed in and lateral to it...
I'm not sure. A capped die strike is a well-known error with a simple etiology that should have been accurately described.
If it slams into a magnet, then it's either pure nickel or steel composition. Copper-plated steel wasn't used in cents until 2000, although some...
This is a "capped die strike". The obverse die face was covered by a thin layer of metal derived from a coin that stuck to the die face and was...
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