Mystery Coin

I came across this strange coin today. Well, It is obviously 50 euro cents, though it is from Italy so it is not too common around here. That is not the weird part, but let's examine the sides of the coin first. The common side shows the value 50 cent, the map with EU countries back then and the 12 stars of the flag of Europe. It was designed by Belgian artist Luc Luycx whose initials are next to the 0. The national side designed by Roberto Mauri features The Equestrian Statue of Marcus Aurelius at the Capitoline Hill. The coin is dated 2002 the year when euro was first issued, though the coins were most likely minted earlier in preparation for that. It was minted in Rome, which is marked by the little R on the left side of the horse. The RI on the right side stands for Repubblica Italiana.

Ok, Let's get to the markings on the rim of the coin. I'm not quite sure what to make of these. Could it be that someone just ground it for fun with their Dremel? There was just a story out about old times with people cheating in Pajatso in different ways like by filing and attaching strings to the coin. Maybe that explains it.

Pajatso (or Payazzo) was a Finnish gambling arcade game evolved from german Bajazzo machines.
You can try virtual Pajatso here http://www.nostalgiapelit.fi/pajatso.html

I scanned the coin and placed two sides next to each other. You could already see the marks on the sides mirroring some what. I took one side and flipped it and placed it on top of the other side reducing the opacity a bit and the serrations seem to match perfectly on both sides. Perhaps it was pressed with some kind of pliers or used as a screwdriver? Could it be an actual mint error? I wouldn't mind that at all.

both sides of coin placed on top of each other

I have no idea, but I sure would like to know. There is propably a really simple explanation for this. What do you guys think? Intriguing little find, anyway.

Image of Pajatso by
Santeri Viinamäki [CC BY 4.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/50_cent_euro_coin
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Identifying_marks_on_euro_coins
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Payazzo
http://currencies.wikia.com/wiki/Roberto_Mauri