OP Look up the term- Blakesley effect. I believe this will help you make an educated decision, you will also become more knowledgeable about similiar such coins in the future
Problem with the Blakesley effect is it is not always present on genuine clips, and I have seen it faked by applying pressure to weaken the rims opposite fake clips. It is a nice clue to help identify genuine clips but it is not diagnostic.
Take a pic of the clipped edge. You should be able to tell if it was punched or ground down by the surface appearance. Based on the other damage, I'm leaning towards PMD. A clear pic will help a lot
There is a minor Blakesley effect manifesting itself as broad rims on both sides, opposite the clip. Without seeing the edge, the one thing that bugs me is the appearance of the rim on the obverse at the left end of the clip. It's diverted inward, which you'd see on fake clip if it weren't cut neatly there. You wouldn't see this on a genuine coin that's not been circulated. Since it has been banged around a bit, however, that end of the clip could have been banged slightly out of shape, resulting in what I see with the rim. The reverse rim fades into the clip as I would expect on a real coin. I'm favoring real over fake by a little bit right now.
I can't say for certain but here are the reasons I believe it's not an authentic clip. * Blakesley effect - I see what may be some minor weakness on the opposite edge but looking at the reverse pic, the rim appears to be flattened and slightly out of round. Almost like something was squeezing it. * Minor rim dings in the Blakesley area also look like they could be the result of something clamping or gripping it and not normal circulation marks. Particularly the reverse * Appears to be some displaced metal sticking up along the edge of the clip. Wouldn't any displaced metal left over from the clip be flattened during the strike? * The damage under the A on the reverse is definitely Post Strike and looks like it could be caused by a grinder. I don't think any of these points by themselves would be conclusive but adding them all together makes me very hesitant about buying this based on the posted pics. Short of pics of the clipped edge, however, it's still speculation.
WOW, i found a cut penny yesterday and i was reading these articles to help identify... http://www.error-ref.com/_curved_clips_/ https://www.australian-coins.com/error-coins/how-to-determine-if-a-clipped-planchet-error-is-real/ Good luck and i hope the articles help...
