Would this have been a great idea if..........

leothelyon

Hi Everyone
Just had a thought from another thread but wouldn't it had been a great idea had the US Mint
kept the cent in the composition, mainly of copper, used before the zinc age of 1982 and included them only in the mint and proof sets? Or at least included them in silver proof sets they started in 1992.

With the problems associated with the zinc cents, with the zinc interacting with the copper, maybe
the US Mint made a big mistake here. How long will we have collectable zinc cents? Are early higher grade zinc cents difficult to come by?

Please educate me.

Leo

coppercoins

Earlier high grade zinc Lincolns (mainly 1982-1988) are a bit difficult to come by because the mint hadn't yet perfected the process of coating zinc with copper. Many of them have gas bubbles, plating split, and other problems that expose the sinc to the air, thus endangering them to corrosion.

Regarding whether the mint should have kept the copper composition for the "sets," I think the statement should be carried a bit farther than that. Basically, they should never have switched in the first place.I actually believe the number of coins I have seen begin to corrode and fade away into oblivion will definately create a rarity among the aforementioned dates, and in addition to that I believe that the switch to a cheaper composition will prove to be more costly than staying with the old composition simply because of the difference in the amount of time the coins generally last. I would say the copper coins (brass is their actual composition, 95% copper, 5% zinc) last 25-30 years in circulation, while most of the zinc cents tend to last half that amount of time in general circulation.

I am working on conducting a study at present on circulating cents, and will post the results of hat study here when it's done (around the beginning of next year). What it will involve is having around 50 people buy $50 each in cents from their local bank, then split the coins by date, mint mark, and variety, then count each nd report that count back to me. I am working over the next 10 years to count 10,000,000 cents in circulation so we can get a decent size representative sample to see what's actually out there. I think the results of the study are going to show a significant shortage in the zinc cents of the 1980s. We will see with time.

By the way, anyone who wants to participate here is welcome...I still have vacant slots that should be filled from different areas of the country. I am trying to get an even coverage from around the country to ensure equal distribution of what's counted.

leothelyon

Hi coppercoins
Great idea! Count me in! But it won't be anytime soon but hopefully, remembering, I send you my results.

Leo

coppercoins

An addition to my last message - for those who know the die varieties of the Lincoln cent will be familiar with the fact that there are a number of different doubled dies for 1983 cents, a nice doubled ear for the 1984 cent, as well as a scattering of other doubled dies for 1985-1989 cents. Given the fact that these exist and already command a nice premium, factor in the possibility that many of these have already become victims of the corrosion problem, thus nice, high grade examples could become an astute rarity in the relative near future - and this would show in the likely extreme rarity of these being offered for sale. Just something else to think of.

Regarding the study I mentioned, if you want to participate and help this project I will need you to send me an e-mail. Participation will require a bit of minor education in the variety types for a few different years - telling the difference between the large date and small date cents as well as being able to tell the difference (easily) between the zinc and brass cents of 1982. I am working on publishing and will soon be ready to mail a pamphlet out to participants so I can make sure everyone is on the same page with regard to these things. I'll need to mail this out to you before you get started. I should be ready to mail them some time before the end of this month. Results from the count will be required by the end of the year, which should give everyone plenty of time.