1997 Bronze Penny No Scale Or Popsickle Stick

Looks like a normal copper plated cent. Copper 3.1 grams +/- .13 copper plated 2.5 grams +/- .13
John1

Not exactly in the transitional period ! No scale ? Use ice-cream stick or wood tongue depressor .


Home made penny scale like the seasaws on a playground:

Take a popsicle stick or something like that, and break or cut about a half inch length of a round pencil, and get the glue ready.

get a pre-82 penny placed on one end and position the pencil under the popsicle stick where the balance just tips, then glue it. A zinc penny will not tip, a copper will.


To add to this already explaine best and cheapest method. Try to use a standard six sided pencil. It wil stay steady while you glue the Popsicle or Ice Creame stick to it. Balance the stick on the pencil, glue in place, wait for it to dry of course. Sticks work best if all popsicles and/or Ice Creame is eaten first. Note you now have a balance beam scale and as noted free. You can test two ways. If you place a pre 82 cent on one side, any lighter 82 plated cent will not make the stick move. If you place a post 82 cent on one end, any Copper 82 cent will make the stick drop on the end it is placed. Note that if you glue a post 82 cent to one end, the glue itself will add weight to that end unless you use a very small amount of glue.
And remember, when finished you can still use your scale to weigh other things or just throw in the garbage

John1

Do any zinc Penny's weigh 3 grams ? The scales I bought say 3 g and I weighed some zinc ones the scale says 2 g . I weighed more copper ones it says 3 g . What would be a good coin scale to tell me the fractions ?

Sounds like you have a scale that rounds to whole grams. A zinc cent is supposed to weigh 2.5 grams. If it is SLIGHTLY less the scale will round it to 2 grams. If it is SLIGHTLY more the scale will round it to 3 grams A copper cent is supposed to weigh 3.11 grams. If they weigh anywhere close to that (2.6 to 3.4) the scale is going to round it to 3 grams. Clearly a scale that rounds to whole grams in nowhere near sensitive enough. A scale that weighs to two decimal places is good enough for most things and can be had for $10 to $15.