1983 copper cent?

Friendly question for you.

There were over 16 Billion 1982 pennies minted. Do you have a keen eye to tell the difference between the 95% copper ones and the 2.5% copper ones ? If you are truly just saving pennies for copper, it might be easier for you to save 1981s and earlier. Do you have a way to sort out the zinkers from the coppers ? I am just trying to save you a headache down the road if someone has told you all the 1982s are 95% copper. Cheers, Jim
 

I set the 82's aside and weigh them to determine if they are copper or not. My question is about the 1983 mintage. Some say there was a few (very very few) coppers produced by accident in 83. I have been weighing those too. I figure if I find one ill prolly take a year off of work lol. I was wondering if anyone had heard of an actual confirmed 1983 copper. I may be searching in vain lol

Thanks a bunch:-)

-K
 

There is nothing noted in the Official Red Book about 83s being minted in copper. Copper stopped in 82 when they switched to copper plated zinc. As you have been doing, you can tell by the weight.

My question is this... is there really a calling for copper? Are coin shops and dealers buying the copper? At last glance it was at $3.43/lb. which wound make the penny's copper value about $0.02.
 

Hydrantman said:
There is nothing noted in the Official Red Book about 83s being minted in copper. Copper stopped in 82 when they switched to copper plated zinc. As you have been doing, you can tell by the weight.

My question is this... is there really a calling for copper? Are coin shops and dealers buying the copper? At last glance it was at $3.43/lb. which wound make the penny's copper value about $0.02.
Click to expand...

Yes- check out some of the ebay auctions. They are selling pennies for $.02+.
Here's the link for copper cent values:
http://www.coinflation.com/coins/basemetal_coin_calculator.html
I pound of pennies isn't much but if you get your hands on a Ryedale, you can sort about 25 lbs. of copper in an hour.
 

I would seriously doubt that any 1983 coppers exist. And here is why.

The only way coins get minted in the wrong material is if they are the first ones off the mint and ther are a few plates left of teh old material. LIke 1943 copper, or 1944 steel. But, the change from copper to zinc happened in the middle of the year. Therefore, if there were a few stragglers left over that were done in copper by mistake ... well they would still be 1982 and no one could tell the difference.

make sense?
 

'Sup playa! '83 coppers do exist and are worth serious bank, but they be rare as a mug! Some hustla found one last year. Also worth lookin' for dat '83 DDO-01. Try dis forum where they be droppin' real error knowledge:

http://www.cointalk.org/forumdisplay.php?f=18

90%+ of '82s are copper, and you can bang one on a known zinc and listen for dat copper ring. Might be faster than using the scale.

Peace!
 

Accidentally ran across an expert's opinion on this. From the "Scams, Hoaxes, and Rumors" chapter in Alan Herbert's book Coin Clinic -

"In 1983 there were all kinds of rumors about the existence of copper (brass) cents, and half the people in the hobby knew of "some dealer" who had some, a roll, or a bag. However, all efforts to track down a legitimate example were fruitless, because they were all just rumors, and not fact. The [Coin World] staff here spent a substantial amount of time and phone calls trying to track down the rampant rumors of such a discovery, but never documented even one coin."

I admit I even thought they existed but I guess this puts it to rest.
 

You must log in or register to reply here.

340.00 in halves

⬅️ Previous Thread

Oatmeal lasts Forever...ate some from 1990

Next Thread ➡️

Top Member Reactions

Users who are viewing this thread

Total: 2 (members: 0, guests: 2)
Metal Detecting Stuff

Latest Discussions

Back
Top