1982 D small/large date confusion...

Kmspiders

Hi there! Very new to coin collecting, and also, forums. If I have posted incorrectly, I do apologize! I have been looking through about $15 worth of pennies, and I came across a few 1982 Ds, I guess my question is, can I tell by sight alone if I were to have a small date, or would it have to be weight? I'm excited to know more. Any info or tips are appreciated. I'm starting a little collection for my son, what got me motivated is finding a 2019 W Idaho, "River of No Return quarter. It's all very exciting!

Longarm

Howdy and welcome to the forum, the easiest way I've found was to weigh them. Good find on that quarter.

JBK

But if you go by weight you might miss the rare off-metal error.

Best to learn the characteristics and use that. (I don't know them off hand).

ifthevamzarockin

Welcome to the forum & coin collecting!

Your photo seems to show a large date then a small date in the middle and another large date.

Kmspiders

oh wow interesting! Thank you all for your input! I had put what i thought to be the small date in between the ones I thought may be large dates (it gets confusing at times!), for a reference. I guess I'll hang on to it then I've just been going over all these pennies looking for stuff that stands out. Fun stuff! Happy collecting. Thanks again

jmski52

There are 7 of 8 possible varieties that exist for the 1982 cents. There are Philly and Denver coins, and copper coins and copper-plated zinc coins. I forget which combination does not exist, but sometimes the 1982 cents are sold in sets of 7.

One of my biggest attempts at cornering the market in a potentially rare coin, was in 1982. I was aware of the varieties and I was an on-again, off-again roll collector so when I found that my bank had new rolls of some 1982 cents, I managed to buy something like 52 rolls. Most of the coins were 1982-D, zinc, Large Dates.

For years, I waited to find out if any of the varieties were relatively rare. My find was the 2nd scarcest, I believe - but over the years, the numbers of rolls of these coins floating around made it difficult to know which ones, if any were scarce. Probably none of them will ever be rare.

Since 1982 was the transition year from 95% copper to copper-plated zinc, the plating process was somewhat poorly-controlled and many of the copper-plated zinc coins bubbled underneath the copper layer. Once that process begins and air makes contact with the zinc core, a galvanic reaction starts to take place and some of the bubbles will rot out or break. Every time I inspect some of those rolls, a few more casualties are evident.

Jimnight

If you look at your pics you will see the large date and small date.

coinbuf

All you need to know on how to spot the differences.

lincolncentresource.com/smalldates/1982.html

AUandAG

Note the shape of the 2 in the date. Also coppercoins.com is another resource.

Welcome,
bob

koynekwest

Notice the distance from the "2" in the date to the rim, much farther away on the small date. We could have used a definition from the 1926 Canadian nickel-these could have been called "Close Date" and "Far Date."

Kmspiders

I had used a pic I took to show my sister the visual difference in dates, grabbing a few rolls this weekend and raiding the penny jar. Keeps me busy. I found a magnifying app that's been a huge help.

ricko

@Kmspiders .... Welcome aboard....Nice pictures. You have all the information above to help you along with the original question.... Good luck in your searches. Cheers, RickO

Kmspiders

Again thank you all
Happy collecting/hunting!