did they make 1982 copper penny by mistake
1982
The last year for copper US pennies was 1982.
A 1983 Lincoln cent is actually copper plated zinc, 1982 was the last year for copper pennies. It's just a penny.
Midway through 1982, the composition of the US penny changed from 95% copper and 5% zinc to 97.5% zinc and 2.5% copper (in the form of a coating of pure copper over a core of zinc).
no a penny is copper... Actually not since 1982.... In the middle of that year the rising price of copper forced the Mint to change the coin's composition to zinc with a thin copper plating. The copper plating is only 2.5% of the coin's composition.
The year is at the bottom on the reverse side.
The most valuable ones are the 1943 copper penny, and the even more rare 1944 steel penny.
1982 was the last year for 95%-copper pennies. And the first year for the zinc pennies. They made both types that year, and the only way to tell them apart is by weight -- the zinc pennies are lighter.Answer100% copper pennies were last minted by the US in 1857. These were large cents, about the size of the "golden" dollar coins. The Flying Eagle and Indian Cents from 1856 to 1864 were 88% copper and 12% nickel. Beginning in 1864 Indian Cents, and later Lincoln Cents, were minted in 95% copper and 5% tin, technically this is bronze. AnswerAnother way to tell the copper penny from the copper coated zinc penny is when a penny is dropped on a hard surface the copper penny will have a ringing sound, the zinc penny will not ring.
What year? post new question.
US Coins the last year for a copper (actually bronze) penny is 1982. In 1982 the penny was made as a copper coin and a copper plated zinc coin. You have to weigh them to tell the difference. Bronze cents weigh 3.11 gm and zinc ones weigh 2.5 gm. The penny has remained a copper plated zinc since 1982 however there is talk of changing it again to a copper plated steel coin. In 1943 the Lincoln US cent was steel coated with zinc because the copper was needed for ammunition during the War. In 1944 it went back the copper coin. Today the cost of copper is too high to make a solid copper coin/penny. In fact the cost of stamping/minting the coins and raw materials, the penny and nickel cost more to produce than their face value.
A modern penny only has about 2.5% copper and the rest is zinc. Before 1982 pennies were made of 95% copper with the remainder being tin and/or zinc. The Mint changed the composition that year when the price of copper increased to the point that the older coins contained more than one cent's worth of copper.
Never. The highest percentage of copper in Canadian pennies was 98%, during the years 1942-1996.