  The definition of "classical anomaly" is introduced. It describes the
situation in which a purely classical dynamical system which presents both a
lagrangian and a hamiltonian formulation admits symmetries of the action for
which the Noether conserved charges, endorsed with the Poisson bracket
structure, close an algebra which is just the centrally extended version of the
original symmetry algebra. The consistency conditions for this to occur are
derived. Explicit examples are given based on simple two-dimensional models.
Applications of the above scheme and lines of further investigations are
suggested.
