How can I tell if a Cent is Copper Alloy?

[newmoneypicker]

How can I tell If I have a 1983 Copper-Alloy Cent?

[willbrooks]

By weighing it. A zincoln is 2.5 grams. A copper alloy planchet is 3.11 grams. After a while, you will be able to tell just by looking. You can also tell by the sound it makes when you drop it or hit it with your fingernail.

[jcuve]

Weight is the last word. Copper will be around 3.11 grams and a plated zinc around 2.5 grams. Some people can do a drop by sound test, others can just tell from the sheen (and split plating) it is plated.

[admrose]

That, and if you see plating blisters you obviously have a copper plated cent.

[newmoneypicker]

is this coins collectable?

[admrose]

is this coins collectable?

A 1983 copper cent? Yes, very much so.

A 1983 copper plated zinc cent? Absolutely not (unless its a variety, but thats for another discussion).

[GrumpyEd]

If you flip a copper cent it rings, zinc doesn't.
That works as a rough test if you don't have a scale handy but a scale is the best way to tell.

[newmoneypicker]

yeah I will be able to weight it tomorrow. it has that ping. is it thicker than a normal penny?

[newmoneypicker]

Also what year in these copper-alloy cents are collectible?

[DCW]

Anything post 1983 in copper would carry thousands of dollars in premiums. (Except 2009 proofs; they struck those in the original composition.)

[papascoins]

Anything post 1983 in copper would carry thousands of dollars in premiums. (Except 2009 proofs; they struck those in the original composition.)

Also, I believe that not just 'proof cents' but all '2009 mint set' Lincolns were made on planchets of the original copper composition.

[Amadauss]

I have that complete set of 1982's that have copper and zinc which is kind of cool. Did the mint make 1983 and on in copper by mistake and if so are they out there other then what was already listed here?

[jcuve]

I can recall 3-4 certified 1983 or 1983D copper Lincolns appearing in the past two years or so...

[coppercoins]

How can you tell? I just drop them onto a table. The sound they make is very different. And no, dropping a coin onto a wood table from a couple of inches will not hurt the coin.

I have never used a scale to determine the composition of a cent. Back when I needed to know most (in 1982) I was only 14 years old and didn't have the money for a gram scale, and didn't think of making a balance stick. I simply immediately recognized the difference in sound they made and went from there - basically, I figured it out on my own as a kid. It wasn't for a number of years that I actually SAW that suggestion from a different source.

I suppose part of the reason I tried the sound test is because I already knew that silver dimes and quarters make a VERY different sound from their clad counterparts, and figured since the cents were two different metals, they would make a different sound.

[Maineman750]

I would have to say weight is the only accurate way that works for everybody. I hear a lot of other methods discussed here, but would any of you buy a copper 1983 cent based on the OP's opinion of how it sounds or looks ?