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Thread Title: A question about the 7 different 1982 cents.
Created On Saturday September 27, 2003 12:27 AM
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smprfi
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Saturday September 27, 2003 12:27 AM

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How do you identify them all?Large date,small date, zinc, and copper.

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MrLee
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Saturday September 27, 2003 12:34 AM

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You can differentiate the Zinc from the Copper by weight but you need a very accurate scale.

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Cam40
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Saturday September 27, 2003 12:39 AM

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The large and small dates can be fairly easy to spot. The large date pieces have the same size date as most all pre-`82 cents. Its easy to see the size difference when comparing two side by side.

The which are zinc and which are copper can be trickier to identify.
The poor man`s method I usually employee is the drop test.
The coppers will have a kind of ring sound when dropped, but the zincs do not ring at all.
But if your ears arent that good to tell and you can weigh the coins, the coppers will be
atleast in the 3 gram range while the zincs are lighter at about the 2.5 grams weight.

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construct
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Saturday September 27, 2003 12:39 AM

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The copper surface on the zinc coins often has a sort of bubbled texture.


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coppercoins
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Saturday September 27, 2003 2:56 AM

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The drop test is far more reliable than looking for bubbles. I've been telling people about the drop test for a number of years, and it works every single time - no question.

-------------------------
 C. D. Daughtrey, NLG
The Lincoln cent store:
http://www.lincolncent.com

My numismatic art work:
http://www.cdaughtrey.com
USAF veteran, 1986-1996 :: support our troops - the American way.

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1jester
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Saturday September 27, 2003 3:59 AM

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You can also set up a simple see-saw made out of a popsickle stick and a penny glued to one end. Put the fulcrum so that the test penny will move the lever down if it is copper, and stay up if it is zinc. It works every time.



-------------------------
 .....GOD


"Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you." -Luke 11:9

"Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD: And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might." -Deut. 6:4-5

"For the LORD is our judge, the LORD is our lawgiver, the LORD is our king; He will save us." -Isaiah 33:22

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Cam40
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Saturday September 27, 2003 5:25 AM

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and lastly, grip the coin with two pairs of pliers and fold the coin in half.
If its silver-colored inside it was a Zincoln, or if its not, it was a good cent.

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drainbamage
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Saturday September 27, 2003 5:33 AM

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The drop test is quick and easy for telling what you have, but you run the risk of damaging the coin by dropping it that way. Even dropping it a few inches can cause the surface to scratch.

An accurate scale is best. A scale is what I prefer to use.

I don't like doing this test because of the risk involved, but I have used this test many times for getting rid of stress!

You WILL go almost cross-eyed when sorting small date from large date if you do not have another one that is already known to set beside it. To stop this from happening, I asked a local dealer how he prevented it from happening and he told me. So far it has not failed me.

On small dates, the nine APPEARS to not be proportional in relationship to the other numbers. This is only an optical illusion. The large date is approximately proportional to the other numbers and so is the small date. But by letting this illusion have it's way with you, you can sort large dates from small dates rather quickly and with a very low amount of error on your part.

I have been able to apply this "illusion" system to other years where we have small and large dates. 1960 pennies are even easier to pick out using this system than the 1982 because both the nine and the six give that illusion.

As a warning.... This wonderful illusion system that I was taught can handle coins dated 19XX. But I am not sure how it will react to coins dated after 2000. The man who taught it to me never lived to see the year 2000 so I will just have to see how well this system holds up or if it just needs a slight modification. But it may not need any because now the two will most likely appear the same way in relationship to the zero next to it. But since we have not had a large and small date year yet, I cannot be sure.

-------------------------
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It is better to dwell in the corner of the housetop, than with a brawling woman and in a wide house. - Proverbs 25:24

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Cam40
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Saturday September 27, 2003 5:50 AM

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Still there is the issue of zinc vs copper. Some large date Zincolns were minted, and some small date coppers
were minted but yes, generally we think of the large dates as copper and the small dates zinc but thats not alway the case.

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coppercoins
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Saturday September 27, 2003 5:54 AM

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Drainbamage - I'm not talking about throwing the coins across the room, I'm talking about letting them settle on a formica-type countertop or on a wood table...that will NOT damage the coins. Come on, they're only pennies anyway.

-------------------------
 C. D. Daughtrey, NLG
The Lincoln cent store:
http://www.lincolncent.com

My numismatic art work:
http://www.cdaughtrey.com
USAF veteran, 1986-1996 :: support our troops - the American way.

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jonesy
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Saturday September 27, 2003 6:03 AM

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Another way to see if it's copper or zinc coated is to take sand paper and rub the edge of the coin. If it stay's copper shiny, it's copper. If you get a silvery color, it's zinc. You will also have a homemade bodybag!!

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cladking
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Saturday September 27, 2003 6:10 AM

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At the rate the zinc coins are deteriorating maybe you can just set them aside for
a few years. Anything that's left is copper.

Look at the '84's in mint sets. Get em quick cause they're goin' fast.

-------------------------
 Tempus fugit.

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drainbamage
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Saturday September 27, 2003 6:41 AM

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Coppercoins - Dropping any coin from any height just makes me nervous. But I then made the joke about it helping stress. It was not made to slam you for I could be wrong. But either way it is not my style.... The stress remark was intended to make some laughter. I did not mean to offend.

But wait all.... This question here is more than just copper and zinc.....

In my post I went one step further..... I told how I seperated the small dates and large quickly and painlessly.....

So I have my illusion system for the dates. How do YOU do it? Only Cam40 has mentioned this so far.

We got the classic "compare" system and my "illusion" system. What else guys?

-------------------------
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It is better to dwell in the corner of the housetop, than with a brawling woman and in a wide house. - Proverbs 25:24

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coppercoins
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Saturday September 27, 2003 6:58 AM

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The actual date size difference is very easy to separate - the large date has a straight diagonal on the 2 and is somewhat misshapen - the small date has a curved diagonal on the 2 and is thinner, more perfect. All of the obverse lettering on the small date is thinner and more distinct. Lincoln changed a little, but not enough to really tell the difference without having them side by side.

As for the "drop test", would you like it better if I changed the name to the "settle test"? I'm NOT condoning dropping coins from "any distance", I mentined letting the coins settle from edge on a table...that can't damage anything, and thinking it would is a bit anal. If it helps to illustrate it, you hold the coin at 45 degrees or more with the edge touching the table and let go. The coin will settle in a second to three seconds depending on how it falls, during which time you should easily be able to tell the difference. All this stuff about scales and pencils or popsickle sticks is unnecessary. Once again, we are talking about pennies here...no whopping valuable items.

-------------------------
 C. D. Daughtrey, NLG
The Lincoln cent store:
http://www.lincolncent.com

My numismatic art work:
http://www.cdaughtrey.com
USAF veteran, 1986-1996 :: support our troops - the American way.

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mozeppa
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Saturday September 27, 2003 7:14 AM

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IF... you just happen to have a 40 power microscope laying around gathering dust...

looking at your coins thru it helps,

many times the copper stretchs or gets pulled away from the zinc at the instant of strike (mostly around the letters)

if its a circulation coin...that also might have a tiny ding in it revealing the zinc inside it.

microscopes are very handy for identifying all kinds of errors....such as (on lincoln cents)....

1. the lincoln monicle
2. lincolns pigtail
3. lincolns cracked skull
4. THE bullet hole
5. the missing VDB
6. lincoln with the measles
7. lincoln with an alien ear
8. the lincoln booger
9. every kind of strike doubling known to man




then there are the real ones !


REAL doubled dies
REAL over dates
REAL re-punched mintmarks

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1jester
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Saturday September 27, 2003 7:16 AM

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"Come on, they're only pennies anyway." --CC

True, but what will they say about this procedure in 100 years?





-------------------------
 .....GOD


"Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you." -Luke 11:9

"Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD: And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might." -Deut. 6:4-5

"For the LORD is our judge, the LORD is our lawgiver, the LORD is our king; He will save us." -Isaiah 33:22

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coppercoins
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Saturday September 27, 2003 7:39 AM

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Procedure - You make it sound like it's some sort of dissection or that I'm sawing them in half. C'mon! You mean to tell me that you handle every single coin without letting them make any noise at all when you sit them on a table? I guess you wear white cotton gloves and have a felt pad handy when you handle your pocket change...and I thought I was anal about things.

Once again, I am NOT talking about tossing the coins across the room - you people are acting as if it's some horrific detriment to the coin to let it settle onto a table - puhhleez!!

-------------------------
 C. D. Daughtrey, NLG
The Lincoln cent store:
http://www.lincolncent.com

My numismatic art work:
http://www.cdaughtrey.com
USAF veteran, 1986-1996 :: support our troops - the American way.

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drainbamage
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Saturday September 27, 2003 8:51 AM

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Actually I have an oversized leather pad with a heavy sponge backing that works quite well to lay something on while you work thank you very much.

And no... I am not kidding....



-------------------------
 Alexandria Collection

It is better to dwell in the corner of the housetop, than with a brawling woman and in a wide house. - Proverbs 25:24

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1jester
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Saturday September 27, 2003 9:53 AM

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Coppercoins, LOL!! Two points (or more) for humor.



-------------------------
 .....GOD


"Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you." -Luke 11:9

"Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD: And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might." -Deut. 6:4-5

"For the LORD is our judge, the LORD is our lawgiver, the LORD is our king; He will save us." -Isaiah 33:22

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cladking
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Saturday September 27, 2003 10:05 AM

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Pocket change? Pocket change? Well sure after you ring it then it won't be MS-70 anymore.

Seriously though, you can usually tell by feel. And their appearance usually gives them away,
though this isn't foolproof and doesn't often work for circs.

About 70% of the zinc cents are already gone. In twenty years, if they continue in use, about 90%
of those already made would be gone. Except for some of those saved by collectors, the vast ma-
jority of those already made will have been destroyed or be in "uncollectible" condition in 100 years.
But the government will quit making these and those remaining at that time will be taken care of bet-
ter.

-------------------------
 Tempus fugit.

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