OK I Got A Question

Partway through production of 1982 Lincoln cents, the U.S. Mint changed the coins' composition from brass (95 percent copper and 5 percent zinc) to one that is predominantly zinc (a core of 99.2 percent zinc and 0.8 percent copper with a copper barrel plating). Cents dated 1982 come in both metallic varieties - and to complicate matters even more, there are large-date and small-date versions in both compositions. Viewed side by side, the large and small dates are relatively easy to tell apart, and there isn't much money riding on the difference, since both are quite common. Distinguishing between the brass and zinc cents is easiest by weight, rather than color: The brass cent is heavier, at 3.11 grams versus 2.5 grams for the zinc cent. Again, both kinds are common. In all, there are seven different varieties of 1982 cents. Just one combination is missing: There is no small-date cent in brass from the Denver Mint.

The easiest way to tell a copper '82 penny and a zinc '82 penny apart is with this simple trick. Drop the penny in question against the edge of a table and listen. If the penny just makes a thud sound, it is zinc. If it makes a ring sound, it is copper. If you aren't sure which noise it made, drop a post-82 penny (i.e. any new penny) on a table and listen to it. If the sound matches the penny in question, its zinc.

Joe

If you would come to work once in awhile !!

I picked you up a set of the 82 varieties !! I have been holding them all week !!



Metalman

ok got another question since my book I got stop at 2002d do 2003 to 2007 only have 2like 2003,2003-d ect to 2007?

Welcome to the forum Joe. I took the easy chicken way out and bought a set of 1982 cents off of ebay that were already marked. I am lazy when it comes to hunting for cents, lol.

Tpatna said the pre-82 coins were Brass, but (correct me if I'm wrong), shouldn't that be Bronze? As to telling the difference, my experience is that it isn't very hard: the old cents look and feel like, well, coins; they're heavier and tend to last longer. The newer ones look and feel like play money (think tiny copper red poker chips). The relief on the zinc cents is much lower, and those coins tend to be more sharply struck - or perhaps the details in the devices were enhanced (e.g., Lincoln's beard and hair) in the same way the quarter was in the early nineties.

Here is a link that has two photos of the sizes side by side. The most noticable difference is in the top circle of the 8. If the top and bottom are the same size, its a large date. If the top is smaller than the bottom, its a small date.

http://www.coinpeople.com/1982-Cent-Fun-t7417.html

Even with that info and a magnifying glass, sometimes it can be hard.

Just want to take a moment to suggest to my fellow cent collectors and any collectors really, that you consider the purchase of a scale that measures to the tenth of a gram. Comes in very handy for many things, and really pays for itself in time if nothing else.