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 Replies: 16 / Views: 3,322 |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
842 Posts |
I have always wondered the same thing. Someone enlighten us!  Edit: Ahh well never mind then! Thanks brenpickle! Edited by ancientcoinguy
11/03/2011 6:40 pm
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Valued Member
 United States
232 Posts |
wow, I was sitting here with large neo magnets trying to see the differance of the electro magnetic field between the two. lol I knever even thought of weighing them
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New Member
United States
21 Posts |
Put the penny on you finger and hit with other coin on the edge. A copper penny will have a slight ringing, higher-pitched sound, whereas a zinc penny will have sort of a flat "clunk"
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3345 Posts |
Copper pennies sound higher when dropped and produce a ring.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
968 Posts |
If you are saving them solely in the hopes that one day they can be sold for melt then you could scratch the coins. If you see silver or grey you know it is a zinc. If you really want to get wild and crazy you can apply heat. The heat of a gas stove is enough to melt the zinc coins but not the copper. I wouldn't recommend that as the standard method to tell them apart!
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Valued Member
United States
232 Posts |
lol, Thank you for all the hints
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3592 Posts |
I made a balance beam out of a popsicle stick and a piece of dowel in the center....like a teeter tooter...glued a known zinc cent to one end and just put an 82 on the other as I'm searching. If it goes down, it goes in the copper pile...fast and easy.
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Valued Member
United States
126 Posts |
I've always just flipped them in the air and you can hear the copper ones make a very audible ring. I don't know why anyone would need to do anything else. That just happens to work best for me and takes less than a second.
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Valued Member
United States
109 Posts |
I have used the balance beam in the past and it works great!
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Valued Member
United States
232 Posts |
Ughh I guess I got to go back through all my junk pennys (ughh lillte over half a five gallon bucket)and pull out the good 82's now that I know the tricks of the trade. Ill most likly just use a scale though
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New Member
United States
21 Posts |
Scale will work. Copper pennies weigh 3.11 grams, whereas the zinc pennies weigh only 2.5 grams.
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Moderator
 United States
56855 Posts |
I use the drop test, drop on table and listen weather it has a ring sound=copper or a dull thud sound=zinc. After awhile you will know the different sounds easily. John1  |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
19966 Posts |
Hummmm.....I consider the copper 82's to be junk and the zincs in BU the only ones worth saving, except for the very scarce BU 1982 SDC's.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2651 Posts |
Flip them like you would for "heads or tails"...the copper rings higher and longer...Try it on one you know is copper (pre-82) then try it on a new zincoln...the sound is evident
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Valued Member
United States
257 Posts |
A lot of people are tone deaf....
Just weigh it out- either with a scale or a balance.
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Posted 11/03/2011 6:58 pm
