Lincoln Cent 1982

A large majority of the pennies dated 1982 are copper. I remember reading at one mint they did not start producing zinc pennies in 1982 until September or October. I suspect that was the case for all mints as they got rid of what was left of their copper planchets before moving on to the copper plated zinc planchets.

The ratio of copper to zinc is probably in the neighborhood of 4 to 1 with the small dates being the hardest to find in both zinc and copper. Sincerely, John Leckrone

I keep all the copper pennies I get but I just skip on the 82's as I dont want to mix them up so in my mind its 71 and before but thats just me

Jan think about it though, if it goes over 3-4 cents each one day I bet they will change the law to allow melting them down + the smallest amount in large quantities can make a big difference. Most people dont realize how much little things can due, but one thing I will never due is go buy copper pennies over face value unless there wheats.

For example I have about $25 in rolls of copper pennies, all from bank/pocket change.

$25 in copper pennies = $55.26

Right there is double what I put in it and with that in my mind has some potential and one day could be worth more or just face and I'm fine with that.

Zinc vs copper 1982s are really easy to identify. Just flip it like you would when calling heads or tails. Copper pennies will make a loud tinging sound. Zinc pennies don't. In my opinion the sound is much more distinctive when you do it that way than when you drop it on the table.

This won't help most of you, but good metal detectors (not cheap ones) can tell the difference between a zinc cent and a copper one. It is nice when I'm out detecting that I can pass over most zinc cents and not waste my time on them. I dig the coppers because they ring in the same range as dimes and because it just might be a wheat or older! Anyway, I don't collect copper cents for melt value, but if I did I'd probably just run my 82's one by one under the detector and sort them that way.

It should ring differently. Silver is a high conductor and nickel is a low conductor. A silver dime or quarter rings VERY differently from a normal nickel. My guess is that a War Nickel should ring somewhere in between. Unfortunately I'm really busy the next few days, but I'll try and test it out for you on some of my coins by this weekend and report back in your main thread.

Although flipping them "heads or tails" style, popsicle sticks, and dropping them on the desk do work, a scale is a must for the numismatist. It removes the doubt and you can pick up a decent one for $10-20.

I would hate to "flip", or even worse, "bang" a 1983 copper coin and depend on the sound! No offense to those of you that do, just not my preference.

You'll also notice after looking at just a few hundred, that some (not all) of the zinc coins just stick out like a sore thumb. You'll know before you even drop them on the scale.