Ir was used for drilling masonry back in the good old days.
The bit shown is shorter than it should be, probably ground down as said above.
An original bit had 3 straight flutes? lengthwise. Bits came in different sizes.
Iirc the bit size # was the same as the screw size that would be used after a wall plug was inserted in the hole?
It was held in a handle, usually hexagonal? steel c. 5 or 6 inches long. At the end where the bit was inserted, there was a cross drilling to allow a drift to remove the bit.
The tool was then used manually to drill? holes before inserting fibre 'RawlPlugs' to accept screws (this was before the arrival of plastic wall plugs). The technique was to strike it with a hammer and rotate it slightly clockwise and anticlockwise between hammer blows, the lengthwise flutes allowed masonry dust/fragments to escape.
Was effectively made obsolete with the arrival of relatively cheap electric drills especially those with hammer action.
Al.