Bonnie writes:Â I recently began putting my coins in books. I have a problem with my 1982 pennies. I am not sure how to tell which is which…the larger, the smaller, the zinc… Any suggestions??
The 1982 cent was the transition year from a copper cent to a zinc one with a copper plating. There are seven business strike varieties which include the copper cents, zinc cents and small and large dates and Philadelphia and Denver issues.
Some 1982 Cent factoids:
- There are no “small date” Denver 1982 cents in copper.
- The small date variety only exists on the copper plated zinc Denver cents.
- The small date has a straight base on “2”, the large date the “2” curls at the end of the base.
- The copper plated zinc cents have bubbles on the surface, the copper coins don’t. (They had a devil of a time getting the copper to adhere correctly to the zinc)
- The “S” mint proof is minted in copper
- The scarcest of the seven 1982 regular issue cents is the Philadelphia, copper plated zinc, small date.
