Realcent.org

It's not cut, it's not sheared, it’s not scraped, it’s not bent, it’s broke…

I have a 2006 D penny that quite literally looks like a ceramic plate that has had about 1/5 of it simply broken off.

I know that many types of metals become brittle during their manufacturing process, does the copper coated zinc penny have a point in its creation where it is brittle and can be broken rather than bent?

This is the first time I’ve seen something like this….

Maybe they froze it first, scroll down on this web page down to about halfway for a photo, or click on broken penny zinc at the top of the web page.
http://members.mrtc.com/anvk/cryogenics/cryogenics.html

That was a very interesting read.

Could it be a clipped planchet? I have found several examples of nicks and one dime with this error type that are regularly passed on to a willing nearby collector. Check the small section of the Red Book or to a quick Google or Yahoo search and you should find sufficient info to give you a good idea of what actually caused the damage.