1960 Lincoln Memorial Cent - Fake?

Wow! Could this have been a rusted die? The pitting seems too widely spaced for this to be struck with a sandcast die. I really have no idea either way!

If you get a definitive answer, please let us know.

To quote Sandy Koufax, "the question is 'why.'"

My guess is someone tried to turn a large date into a small date for what ever reason. probably tooled the coin itself, or made fake dies from a large date and made it look like a small date

TB, I can dang sure see why you would question this cents authenticity.

Thanks for all the great responses! This one is odd and it doesn't seem that there is a consensus yet. I haven't decided where I fall yet, as it really seems like a fake but can't put all the pieces together to figure out the how and why. Coop is in the abraded die camp, but it just seems like what looks abraded looks very, very abraded while other parts of the coin as super tall and crisp.

So here are two more images. The first is the date with the little bit of crud removed where the master doubling would be under the tip of the 6 on a small date. I just don't see it in hand at all. Of note, however, when I first saw the coin I thought it was a small date based on the overall look of the date.

The second image merely shows what some of the letters look like using a transverse view. Very tall and insanely sharp lines and corners. I realize that would be deep in the die, but usually abraded dies just don't look this crisp.

And a question. I think I see subtle differences in the hair outline. Something like that might occur between a proof and a business strike. What would a coin look like that was a proof strike on a business strike planchet? The edges of the coin are definitely beveled and it's a business strike planchet not a proof planchet.

Thanks again for all the comments! I still wonder what this one is.

Well back to the die polishing. Why would that area be polished. They only work on the areas where a clash happened. That area is not a target area for clash marks on the first 'T', so it would probably not be affected.
With the obstruction removed, it maybe just a large date. (Something I hadn't consider yet) But with the weight is normal, then my next question would be? Why would anyone make a counterfeit of a coin that no one would want. Counterfeiters are into this to make something desirable. Nothing desirable copied for this coin? The small date plains are not that expensive to make a fake example for.