Curious why I am looking at 3x 1982 P Lincoln Cents (2x ring &1 clicks)? In other words if I place them individually on my index finger and flick them with my thumb nail. Two make a dull click no ring whatsoever while the third chimes or rings very loud? Can someone please inform me as to why? I appreciate your teaching and thank you all.
Over 10 Billion 1892 P (no mint mark) were made with both the large date and small date. Some were made out of the old copper alloy and some were made with the copper plated zinc. Possibly you have 2 coins made of one composition and 1 of the other. The surest way to tell the difference is to weigh them. Copper alloy weighs 3.11 grams and the copper plated zinc is 2.5 grams.
1982 was the transition year to a new composition for the US Cent. Thus in 1982 you will get two different types of cents. 1952 – 1982 is 95% Copper and 5% Tin & Zinc; 3.11 grams 1982 – Current is 97.5% Zinc and 2.5% Copper; 2.5 grams if you buy a "jewelers" scale make sure it goes to 2 digits. Such as 3.11. Getting a scale that only goes 1 digit that means it will round the number and you may get 3.0, or 3.1 instead of 3.11. And a food scale is totally different and should not be used.
Get yourself an inexpensive digital scale. The Copper cents weighed 3.11 grams brand new, and will weight about 3.06 grams with normal wear (the ones that ring). The copper plated zinc ones weighed 2.5 grams when minted, and will again weigh slightly less as they wear. Those are the one that make the dull thud.
I always cringe when people talk about the "ring" of a coin. Why would you drop a coin and risk damaging just the hear the sound? Just weigh it on an accurate scale and you have a much more reliable measure of the composition.