How do you tell if my 1982 penny is copper or zinc?

If your Lincoln Memorial penny has a date before 1982, it is made of 95% copper. If the date is 1983 or later, it is made of 97.5% zinc and plated with a thin copper coating. For pennies dated 1982, when both copper and zinc cents were made, and best way to determine their composition is to weigh them.

How can you tell if a penny is made of copper?

The easiest way to determine if a 1943 cent is made of steel, and not copper, is to use a magnet. If it sticks to the magnet, it is not copper. If it does not stick, the coin might be of copper and should be authenticated by an expert.

How do you tell if a penny is copper or bronze?

Try picking your coin up with a magnet. If your coin is attracted to the magnet, it is made of copper-plated steel (a fraud). If the magnet does not attract your coin, it may be made of bronze and you should have the coin authenticated to determine if it is the "real deal".

How much is a 1982 copper penny worth?

1982 Copper pennies are composed of 95% copper, and 5% zinc. They each weigh 3.11 grams. The current copper melt value for each penny is about $0.02. The 1982 copper penny with no mint mark and the small date is worth around $2 in uncirculated condition with an MS 65 grade.

What color is zinc on penny?

Zinc metal plus sodium hydroxide is used to plate zinc metal on the surface of a copper penny. The sodium hydroxide and zinc metal react to allow zinc metal to be formed on the surface of the penny. Further heating of the “silver” penny causes the zinc and copper to react to form bronze which appears gold in color.

How To Tell Which 1982 Penny You Have (Copper or Zinc, Large Date or Small Date)

What year penny is worth $1000000?

The first 1943 copper cent was sold in 1958 for more than $40,000. In 1996, another went for a whopping $82,500. But those sales pale in comparison with the latest: this week, a dealer in New Jersey sold his 1943 penny for a staggering $1.7 million.

How can you test copper at home?

"Strike your copper item against something and listen to the sound," says Martin. Real copper is a soft metal and should deliver a deep and mellow sound, as opposed to alloys that are more likely to produce a clear, ringing bell-like sound." Other materials will produce different sounds.

What makes a 1982 penny rare?

The most valuable 1982 penny is a transitional error caused by the move from 95% copper to 99.2% zinc composition. It's the 1982-D "small date" Lincoln Memorial cent made from copper. There wasn't supposed to be any "small date" bronze Lincoln cents struck in Denver in 1982.

What are the 7 different 1982 pennies?

Are zinc pennies worth anything?

They are relatively common in excellent condition since people tended to save them when they were first issued because they were unusual. Unfortunately, a regular 1943 steel penny is worth only a few cents. As the 1943 steel pennies circulated, the zinc coating started to turn dark gray and almost black.

Are 1982 pennies 95% copper?

So for the past 30 years, pennies have been made with an alloy comprised of 97.5% zinc and 2.5% copper, but pennies minted before 1982 are 95% copper and 5% zinc. The price of copper has more than quadrupled over the past 10 years. So a penny produced before 1982 is worth 2.2 cents based on the metal it contains.

What year were zinc pennies made?

In 1943, copper was needed for war materials, so pennies were made out of zinc-coated steel. Because the color was silvery, it was easy to mistake a penny for a dime.

How can I tell if I have a bronze penny?

The easiest way to determine whether or not your 1943 Cent has collectible value—to see if it is possibly bronze rather than steel—is simply to test it with a magnet. If the coin is magnetic, then it is, unfortunately, the common steel version and is not valuable in most cases.

What is the Holy Grail penny?

This holy grail penny is a copper penny from 1943. That might sound normal to some, but the U.S. didn't make pennies out of copper in 1943. Instead, they were made out of steel coated in zinc. This was due to copper being used for other purposes during World War II.

What is the rarest Wheat penny?

Considered to be the most valuable of the non-error Wheat Pennies, the 1914 D Wheat Penny commands an asking price range from $281 to $4,268.

Why is a 1958 D penny rare?

One of the biggest and rarest errors for Wheat Pennies is the 1958 Doubled Die Error. Only three examples are known to exist, with only two being officially graded by PCGS, a third party grader. Doubling can be seen very clearly on the obverse of the coin.

What color is copper penny?

Copper Penny is a deep, pure, rusty orange with a copper undertone.

Is a copper penny turning dark a physical or chemical change?

The color change indicates that a new chemical substance has been produced. Copper on the surface of the penny has combined with oxygen in the air to produce a different substance called copper oxide.

Is zinc magnetic?

I should note that zinc is not magnetic unless you put it in a very strong magnetic field and then it will be slightly magnetic until you remove the field. But for practical purposes zinc is not magnetic.

How can you tell if a 1982-D penny is copper?

If your Lincoln Memorial penny has a date before 1982, it is made of 95% copper. If the date is 1983 or later, it is made of 97.5% zinc and plated with a thin copper coating. For pennies dated 1982, when both copper and zinc cents were made, and best way to determine their composition is to weigh them.

How much should a 1982-D small date penny weigh?

The 1982-D small date bronze weighs about 3.1 grams, versus only 2.5 grams for the far more common zinc issue.