Hello everyone I would greatly appreciate it if someone can tell me if my 1982 Lincoln penny that weighs 3.10 grams. Can someone help me distinguish if it's a large date or small date I've done the size comparison but I'm still a little bit doubtful.Have a great day thank you!
On the small date the 2 is very delicate like the neck of a swan, the 8 is in a snowman shape and it is far from the rim. In the large date the 2 is sloppy, and it is very close to the rim.
@Michael K Thank You! Thank you! your explanation of large date vs small date FINALLY made it click in my head! I was able to go through my 1982 D's I had set aside and sort through them. Found 3 Small date (all zincs) . But now I can tell the difference at a glance! Thank You!
I've never liked the use of the terms "near" and "far" because "How near is near?" "How far is far?" Whenever possible I like to give some kind of a quick way to visually judge the distances. It is also helpful if you only have one coin and you can't make a comparison between them. My description for the small date is if you look at the width of the base of the 2, you could fit the base of another 2 in between it and the rim (see above). On the large date the distance from the base of the 2 to the rim is about HALF the width of the base. (again see above.) So if the distance from the base of the 2 to the rim is equal to the width of the base of the 2 it's a small date. If it is half the width of the base of the 2 it's a large date.
