1909-1982 Lincoln Copper Penny Melt Value (2024)

FAQs

Why is a 1982 penny worth $10000? ›

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.

The 1982 D over D Zinc Mint Error Lincoln Penny

With this error coin, the artisans at the Denver mint wanted to make the penny perfect. So, since the first strike on the D mint mark was faint, they struck the coin again. But the result made the D mark appear like a double.

It is a well known fact that pennies minted from 1982 and back are made of 95% copper. These copper pennies are not rare at all.

Today, you'll find a 1982 penny value with no mint mark for $0.50. The value could be higher if it's in good condition. However, you can also get a 1982 penny for about 1¢ to $4 — this value is for the circulated version.

Simpson, co-chairman of the Texas Rangers baseball club, paid $1 million for the finest known 1943-S Lincoln Wheat cent on a bronze planchet. All 1943 Lincoln cents were supposed to be made of steel planchets coated with zinc.

For pennies dated 1982, when both copper and zinc cents were made, and best way to determine their composition is to weigh them. Solid copper pennies weigh 3.11 grams (+/- 0.130 g.), whereas the copper plated zinc pennies weigh only 2.5 grams (+/- 0.100 g.).

The 1982-P Small Date copper Lincoln cent is one of the most difficult memorial cents to find in high grade condition. They are scarce even in MS64 and MS65 grades. It is one of the most difficult varieties to find in high grade out of all seven different varieties of this date.

The Most Expensive Penny

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.

The 1982-D has been a highly sought-after coin ever since the first one was discovered in Minnesota in 2016 and sold for $18,800 at auction. Now that a second specimen has been found, it gives collectors even more hope of finding one. A second 1982-D Small Date hom*ogenous copper alloy Lincoln cent has been discovered.

Why is a 1983 copper penny worth? ›

If So, Then You Might Have The Rare 1983 Copper Penny Worth $15,000! There's a rare 1983 copper penny (a 1983-D penny) worth $15,000 -- you could find one in your pocket change!

The Mint switched over from striking copper-alloy to copper-plated zinc planchets sometime in mid-1982 as a cost saving measure – the copper-alloy planchets were too expensive to strike and the Mint was losing money.

It's from 1999 and could be worth $4,500 thanks to a little-known error on it. What you want to look for is a 1999 penny with no mint mark, which means no letter under the year on the heads side.

If you find a 1909 penny with an S on the front and the letters VDB on the back at the bottom, it could be worth nearly $1,000.

The 1959-D wheat penny is one of the most controversial mule coins ever. It's worth $50,000!

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.

Finally, in 1982, the coin would evolve into its modern form of only 5% copper and 95% zinc. The modern penny has the least amount of copper with a small 2.5% copper plating and a 97.5% zinc base. So now, you know!

A 1982 zinc penny has a tolerance of 0.10 grams — so an authentic one could weigh as little as 2.40 grams or as much as 2.60 grams.

Stack's Bowers sold this 1983 Doubled Die Reverse penny for $2,640 in March 2018. The U.S. made about 7.7 billion pennies in 1983, but only about 5,000 of them are known to have been made with this doubling error, James McCartney, director of numismatics at Stack's Bowers Galleries, tells CNBC Make It.

Bucki estimates that a 1992 Close AM coin in fairly new condition could be worth about $20,000, while a used one could sell for around $2,000 to $3,000.

What pennies should I keep? ›

Pre-1982 pennies contain a much greater percentage of copper. Post-1982 pennies are mostly zinc.

All pennies were made with this composition until 1982 when the high cost of copper dictated a major change in composition. Since 1982, U.S. pennies have been produced with 97.6% zinc with a thin plating of copper. Since each metal has a different density, pre- and post-1982 pennies have different masses.

The 1982-D small date bronze Lincoln cent is a rare and valuable transitional error! So, how do you find them? There are two key diagnostics: the size of the date and the coin's weight. The 1982-D small date bronze weighs about 3.1 grams, versus only 2.5 grams for the far more common zinc issue.

Upon changing the composite from solid copper to the zinc and copper alloy, so to did the weigh of the coins themselves. Prior to 1982, a penny made completely of copper was significantly heavier than the zinc and copper alloy counterparts.

It turns out all pennies with a date of 1981 or earlier were made from nearly pure copper, which means they are actually worth three times their face value - three cents.

Why should I save Copper Alloy cents/pennies? Some 1982 and all prior years are made with 95% copper. With copper at historic high prices, each of these coins are worth much more in actual metal content, than their face value.

It is not illegal to melt, form, destroy, or otherwise modify US coins, including pennies, unless the objective is fraudulent or with the intent of selling the raw materials of the coins for profit.

While the original edition pennies from 1909 can have significant collectable value, other editions of the Lincoln penny can be highly desired by coin collectors as well. A 1933-D, for example, may be valued at $2.30 or more. A 1931-S could be worth $40 or more.

How much is a 1982 large date penny worth? ›

USA Coin Book Estimated Value of 1982 Lincoln Memorial Penny (Copper - Large Date Variety) is Worth $0.39 or more in Uncirculated (MS+) Mint Condition. Click here to Learn How to use Coin Price Charts.

In Average Circulated (AC) condition it's worth around 1 cent, one in certified mint state (MS+) condition could bring as much as $45 at auction.

The 1982-D small date bronze Lincoln cent is a rare and valuable transitional error! So, how do you find them? There are two key diagnostics: the size of the date and the coin's weight. The 1982-D small date bronze weighs about 3.1 grams, versus only 2.5 grams for the far more common zinc issue.

10,000 pennies are in $100. Every dollar is 100 pennies, and 100 x 100 = 10,000. 10,000 pennies take up 213 cubic inches and weigh 55.1 pounds.

The 1982-D has been a highly sought-after coin ever since the first one was discovered in Minnesota in 2016 and sold for $18,800 at auction. Now that a second specimen has been found, it gives collectors even more hope of finding one. A second 1982-D Small Date hom*ogenous copper alloy Lincoln cent has been discovered.

Pre-1982 pennies contain a much greater percentage of copper. Post-1982 pennies are mostly zinc.

If So, Then You Might Have The Rare 1983 Copper Penny Worth $15,000! There's a rare 1983 copper penny (a 1983-D penny) worth $15,000 -- you could find one in your pocket change! Here's what to look for + Other rare copper pennies.

All pennies were made with this composition until 1982 when the high cost of copper dictated a major change in composition. Since 1982, U.S. pennies have been produced with 97.6% zinc with a thin plating of copper. Since each metal has a different density, pre- and post-1982 pennies have different masses.

A 1982 copper penny has a tolerance of 0.13 grams — meaning that it could weigh between 2.98 grams and 3.24 grams. A 1982 zinc penny has a tolerance of 0.10 grams — so an authentic one could weigh as little as 2.40 grams or as much as 2.60 grams.

There are 100,000,000 pennies in one million dollars. To find the number of pennies in a million dollars, think first about the number of pennies in one dollar. There are 100 pennies in one dollar.

How many is million pennies? ›

We'll save you from math: a million pennies is $10,000.

How much is a billion pennies? To determine, you need to divide 1,000,000,000 by 100, which equals $10 million.