1982 Lincoln?

Dropping them is by far the easiest and most reliable way to tell the difference.

Yes dropping them onto a hard service can really work. In fact if you drop them from a tall building you would notice that the one that dent the most are not the Copper ones. Then of course there is the Butane Torch or Arc Welder Torch method. You now melt the coins and the ones that are pure Copper will stay pure Copper. You could take a nail and scratch each one. The Copper Plated Zinc ones will show the Zinc through the scatch.
All such methods will naturally hurt the coins but who cares about what someone else may want.
As noted just take a popsicle stick, ice cream stick and balance it on a six sided pencil. Glue it in place. You now have cheap balance beam scale that will not hurt the coins in any respect. Place a later than 82 at one end and glue it in place. Now any cent you place on the opposite end will either make it balance or drop. If it drops, it is Copper. If it balances, it is the Zinc ones.
So many people just don't care about some kid collecting that wants as perfect a coin as possible from change so be nice to all of them.

Justcarl,Looks like you beat me to it,THE story of my life.

The little balance beam works the best,I glued a little 4 inch plastic ruler onto a short piece of hex.type pencil then glue any zinc penny on the end and you have it.Place a penny on it ,if it balances its zinc,if copper it goes down.


You missed the best part of my suggestion. In order to get the popsicle or ice creame stick, you have to eat the product first.

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Dropping them is by far the easiest and most reliable way to tell the difference.

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I dont see how that is more reliable than a digital scale? I guess I look at it like this...if you drop the coin you can cause some minor damage (possible nick or contact mark where it hit whatever surface), plus depending on how the coin bounces you might have to chase it if it rolls away on the floor. The digital scale works reliably 100% of the time, and is valid, and can be used for verifying weights on other coins as well (for confirming they weigh what they shold and are not counterfeits).

This is the procedure Coppercoins is talking about as outlined for The Cent Project

They are easy to differentiate without a scale--all it takes is a good ear. Using a hard surface made of wood or glass, drop a known copper cent (up to 1981) and listen for a distinct high-pitch ring sound. Then drop a known zinc cent (1983 to date) on the same surface and listen...no ring. It sounds more like you would expect lead to sound when dropped. Sort of like a 'thud'. Do this a few times and you should get the hang of it.

A better method, the one I used when I was a kid, is to let the coin hit a glass surface then drop a couple of feet to a pillow or the carpet (to cushion the fall). This will give your ears a couple of seconds to adjust and listen for the sound. Sometimes just dropping them against a table isn't enough for some people.

Drop it off the Empire State Building. If the coin blows back up into your face, it's zinc. If it drops all the way down, it's copper and you lost it.