So I was looking online and it said that the lincoln cents were made in bronze and brass for the majority of the run. Is there a noticeable difference between bronze cents and brass cents?
The old 95% copper cents (pre 1982) tend to tone alot darker, almost chocolate brown as they tone. The new cents since 1982 dont get the same coloration IME. Look at a few and you should be able to tell. If there MS then it is harder to tell unless you look at the date. Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk
I can tell Zincolns from old copper cents easily. I was talking about the change that was made in composition in the 40s from bronze to brass( not zinc covered steel and not copper plated zinc)
He asked about the Bronze and Brass , not the plated zinc. The composition tended to vary. The law required 95% copper and 5% tin and zinc, but did not specify how much tin and how much zinc. During the early years the tin and zinc ratio was about equal 2.5% of each. But during WWII with tin being a strategic metal the amount of tin was reduced to just a trace. (and I mean a SMALL trace. For example the 85,590,000 cents struck in San Francisco in 1942, total weight 585,069 pounds, used just 50 pounds of tin. That's .009% Once the mint switched to brass shell cases 1944 - 46 they added copper to bring the alloy up to 95% copper, and would then toss in a pre-1942 cent into the melt to provide a trace of tin and satisfy the legal requirement. After 1946 the amount of tin was increased but I don't believe it ever went over 1% from 1947 to 1962. The 1963 to mid 82 cents are 95% copper 5% zinc with no tin. The only real way to tell a bronze cent from a brass one, other than by date, or the exact composition of a bronze one is by something like the XRF machines
