Posted 04/27/2008 09:50 am
There are actually 7 varieties. In the middle of 1982 the composition was changed from the copper cent to the copper plated zinc cent. The varieties are:
1982 large date copper
1982 sm date copper
1982 D large date copper
1982 large date Zinc
1982 small date zinc
1982 D large date zinc
1982 D small date zinc
There was no 1982 D small date copper officially produced. This would be an error coin and I do check my coins looking for one. You can tell the difference between copper and zinc by weight. copper cents weigh 3.1 grams and zinc cents weigh 2.7 grams.
If you don't have a scale you can make a cheap balance with a popsicle stick or tongue depressor by gluing a cent you know is zinc (1983 to date) on one end of the stick and gluing something on the opposite side in the middle for it to pivot on. Then when you place a coin on the stick at the opposite end of the glued coin the heavier coppper coins will make your balance go down. You can sometimes find these being sold by coin dealers. Good luck.
1982 large date copper
1982 sm date copper
1982 D large date copper
1982 large date Zinc
1982 small date zinc
1982 D large date zinc
1982 D small date zinc
There was no 1982 D small date copper officially produced. This would be an error coin and I do check my coins looking for one. You can tell the difference between copper and zinc by weight. copper cents weigh 3.1 grams and zinc cents weigh 2.7 grams.
If you don't have a scale you can make a cheap balance with a popsicle stick or tongue depressor by gluing a cent you know is zinc (1983 to date) on one end of the stick and gluing something on the opposite side in the middle for it to pivot on. Then when you place a coin on the stick at the opposite end of the glued coin the heavier coppper coins will make your balance go down. You can sometimes find these being sold by coin dealers. Good luck.
