I found both these 1982 Large Date cents roll searching recently. I usually set aside red or mostly red CU cents in to be rolled together later on and placed in "the box" I keep. The 1982 cent on the right I found here struck me as unusal for its weak design elements. What I do not know is if this is simply a poorly struck coin, or if something else is at play here (some sort of error). I have placed a second, well struck example to the left. Sorry for the quality of the pictures- My tripod is broken and I've never been able to get good macro shots with my Canon A2000 IS. I have an older 4MP camera that I can break out if needed. Thank you.
Is it a zinc one? I noticed a few of those myself. It may be a die trial where they're trying to get the pressure right with the new composition.
I think I've seen something like that too. I'll have to see if I can find it again. I put it in a big bag full of 82's I need to sort.
It's actually red brown in hand. I'll try to take some clearer, closer shots with the other camera when I get my tripod fixed. I was looking at the coin closely the other night, and the regular CU 1982 LD cent has a nice smooth edge where as my questionable cent has extremely fine grooves across the edge from the collar. There is no way I'd be able to photograph that with any of my cameras
If I had to guess I would say they are both copper examples. I would also say it's not a weak strike but a late die state coin.
Updated images I've been playing with the digital camera and got some better pictures of the cents in this now three week old post. They are both 1982-P copper cents. One is very poorly struck, while the other is just your run-of-mill Almost uncirculated coin. My question is - is the first cent really just a very poor strike, or was something else at play? Thanks.
