Featured A Guide to 1982 Lincoln Cent Identification

@CamaroDMD Not sure why the OP's pictures aren't labeled as to which is the LD and which is the SD.

 

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No in 1982 the Lincolns were struck in the original bronze metal and was the first year of zink w/ copper plating.
You may want to check out this old post.
https://www.cointalk.com/threads/a-guide-to-1982-lincoln-cent-identification.55647/

 

Thanks for the feedback. I did review that thread. Unless I'm missing something, Bronze metal is not mentioned.

 

Sorry for the confusion, 95% copper, 3% zinc and 2% tin

 

Thanks! Is that your ANACS slab above?

 

They intend to indicate that it is not a copper plated zinc coin. Bronze was a bad choice of words though because the non-zinc coins are NOT bronze, it's brass. It is not 95% copper 3% zinc and 2% tin, it is 95% copper 5% zinc. There is no tin in the coin. Tin was eliminated from the cent in 1963.

 

Thanks for that. So the "Bronze" on the slab indicates color?

 

No just an incorrect identification of the alloy.

 

Out of the 7 or so of these 1982 varieties, which one would be the most significant, desirable or scarce?

 

These were all minted in the tens/hundreds of millions. None of them are rare, or even scarce. They are popular because they are transition pieces, and they are collected because they are available. Even in high grades, none of these are scarce. They all trade for roughly the same amount.

As for the construction of the scale in the OP - I used a small dab of glue on mine. The only thing to keep in mind is that the weight of the glue or tape will add to the weight of the coin, and make your scale less accurate.

I strongly hesitate to use the drop test, to avoid adding more marks to a coin that I intend to collect or keep.

Here is much of the same information, but with labelled pictures: http://www.lincolncentresource.com/smalldates/1982.html

 

So something like this is the best someone could expect to do/or find with one of these 1982 varieties?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1982-D-LARG...370533?hash=item46491d57e5:g:JEkAAOSwFNZWw2Oz

 

What do you mean by "the best someone could do?"

Do you mean highest graded? No. Check the pops - there are 68's.

Do you mean highest priced? No. Check the auction history (as you would expect, the 68's sell for more).

Do you mean best value? No. That depends on the coin and grade and asking price relative to recent auction sales.

Do you mean most attractive? No, a high grade red cent is pretty much going to have the same look as every other high grade red cent.

I'm really unclear what you are attempting to ask here.

 

Good point! Your answers indicate how inept my question was.

Okay, let me put it this was. If you had a choice to have one of these seven 1982 varieties (large date, small date, zinc, copper, P/D, etc..), in the grade, value and attractiveness you wanted, what would it be?

 

I wouldn't say your question was "inept," I would more likely say it was "imprecise."

Well, most of my Lincoln "collection" is a date set, raw in an old Whitman album. Thus, for my collecting purposes, what I wanted was a set of 64/65 coins that were fairly attractive. Many dealers will sell a complete set of all 7 varieties for a few bucks (I bought mine several years ago, $10 for the whole set). Mine are attractive, spot-free red coins, and perfectly suited to my purposes.

What you should buy depends largely on your collecting goals. Are you looking to build an inexpensive UNC set? Are you looking to build a set from circulation? (you can easily find all of these in pocket change - you just have to look for them) Are you looking to buy a high grade, competitive Registry set? Are you just looking for them because they are cool, and the grade doesn't matter? Are you building a set, or are you getting whatever looks cool at the time? (both are perfectly okay, although I strongly prefer the set-building approach)

My purchases are driven by my goals - your goals (and hence, purchases) will almost certainly be different.

This may be a slightly different way of thinking about things, but as you grow as a collector you will begin to ask these questions for yourself (that is, what are *my* goals in purchasing these), and then you can answer these questions for yourself.

 

Thanks for the on-going feedback. Although this is an old thread, I probably should have started a new one. Don't want the OP to think we hijacked his thread.

All great questions I need to ask myself and digest. I've been pulling these 82 varieties Lincolns out from roll searching (probably just a waste of time) for several years. All are pretty much very common like you indicated. I believe I have found a few that (what I think) are in preteen condition for business strikes. So of course, I go on-line (ebay or whatever) and see what they may fetch or if any of them are worth getting slabbed. The prices and values seem to be all over the place. I was looking for a starting point. Bottom-line, I know it's only worth what someone is willing to pay. If course, we wouldn't want to pay for the grading if it costs more then the coin. I cringe when I see some of the slabbed 82 varieties on-line thinking that could be one of mine. Do you understand where I'm coming from on this?

 

It's post's like these that save me money on painkillers. Awesome. Thankyou.

 

Most people think the SDZ 82P is the hardest of them all. However, I have a BU roll set collection and it's almost impossible to find the SDC 82P in BU condition. I search a lot of boxes and bags and maybe found 2 or 3 and they weren't very nice. To complete the set I was forced into buying a roll...and wasn't cheap. IMO, the small date copper 82P is the hardest in BU.

 

Here's an example of the grade I seek for my roll set collection:


These are really tough to find in 66/67 and up. While the lower grades of 1982's are fairly common, the ultra gem grades are NOT. Look at the PCGS prices for the top slabs:

http://www.pcgs.com/prices/priceguidedetail.aspx?ms=1&pr=1&sp=1&c=47&title=lincoln+cent+(modern)

 

Nice post above, thanks! ...and nice pics!

So I have reason to believe that this set is bogus. I acquired it (let's say) under very questionable conditions. Assuming the coins are correct, you're saying the SDC 82P in BU condition would be the most desirable to have? Why do you think it says "Key Coin" under 82-D LG Zinc?

 

That is a very attractive cent, Thad.

The Zincolns of 82 were plagued by plating problems. Nearly every single one had bubbles, and some of the had so many zits they looked like a hormonal 13 year old boy. Yours doesn't appear to be afflicted quite so badly.

@TJ1952 , your set appears attractive. I wouldn't worry about what they call "the key." Like I said, they were all minted by the hundreds of millions. None of them are rare or scarce.