Did you know every Proof coin, except one, (singles & those in sets) ever struck by a U.S.A. Mint contains copper? Do you know not all USA coins struck for circulation contain copper? Which has the most copper? Which the least? Only one USA business strike coin does not contain any copper, which one is it? All Half Cents and all Large Cents were 100% copper, thus the 27mm (approx. size) Large Cent contains more copper than any other USA coin. Copper-nickel Flying Eagle Cents, Indian Head Cents (1859 - 1864) were composed of .880 copper (including proofs). 1864 Cents were minted in both copper-nickel and bronze. The bronze Indian Head Cents from 1864 through 1909 (business strike and proof) were composed of .950 copper, .050 tin and zinc. You may be thinking about the Two Cent coin. They are bronze also, thus the 23mm coin has only .950 copper and .050 tin and zinc. You may think the Trime (Three Cent Silver) doesn't have any copper in it, but you'd be wrong. The Trime is composed of (1851 - 1853) .750 silver, .250 copper; (1854 - 1873) .900 silver, .100 copper. Even the nickel Three Cent Pieces have a copper-nickel composition (.750 copper, 250 nickel. Surely, one believes, Nickels don't have any copper in them. Yes they do: All nickels (Shield, Liberty Head, Buffalo and Jefferson) contain .750 copper and .250 nickel except for the war time (1942 - 1945) Jefferson Nickels which were made of .560 copper, .350 silver and .090 manganese. Only the 1942-P was struck in proof. There is no Half Dime, Dime, 20 Cent piece, Quarter, Half Dollar or Dollar without some copper in it (proof or business strike). Now you think I made a mistake, because I didn't exclude Gold Dollars nor the special struck 2000-W 22 Karat Gold Sacagawea Dollar. The 22 Karat Gold Sacagawea Dollar is self-explanatory in that pure gold is 24 Karat meaning that the 2000-W Sacagawea is made up of a mixture of gold, silver and copper. Besides that, it wasn't minted as a business strike or a proof. As for the early gold coins (Dollar, Quarter-Eagle, Half Eagle, Eagle and Double Eagle the compositions are as follows: 1849 - 1889 Dollar / .900 gold, .100 copper. Being only 13mm in size and weighing only 13 grams it is the USA's coin containing the least amount of copper. 1796 - 1834 with motto Quarter Eagle (2 1/2 Dollar) / .9167 gold.0833 silver & copper 1834 no motto - 1929 Quarter Eagle / .900 gold, 100 copper. 1854 - 1889 - Three Dollar / .900 gold, .100 copper Gold Stellas (4 Dollar) were never struck for circulation or in proof. 1795 - 1834 Half Eagle ($5) /.9167 gold, .0833 silver & copper 1834 - 1838 Half Eagle Classic Head / .8892 gold, .1008 silver &copper 1839 - 1929 Half Eagle / 900 gold, .100 copper 1795 - 1804 Eagle ($10) / .9167 gold, .0833 silver & copper 1838 - 1933 Eagle / .900 gold, .100 copper 1849 - 1933 Double Eagle ($20) .900 gold, 100 copper I hear you, "You missed the 1943 Cents!" You are right, I omitted the Lincoln Cents from 1909 to date. 1909 - 1942 Bronze Lincoln Head Cents (.950 copper, .050 tin & zinc including proofs minted at Philadelphia 1943 Lincoln Head Cents are composed of steel coated with zinc. Since no proofs of the 1943 cent were minted, the coins struck for circulation are the only USA business strike coins without any copper in its composition. Since 1944 through part of 1982 Lincoln Head Cents were of the same composition as 1909 - 1942, let's jump to the latter 1982 to 2008 composition: The core is 99.2% zinc, 0.8% copper plus a plating of pure copper on business strikes and proofs. If you're thinking, "What about the commemoratives?" Let me remind you that no USA commemorative coin was produced for circulation. Some were released into circulation because, not all that were minted, were purchased as a souvenir (that's what happened with the 1892 &1893 World's Columbian Exposition Half Dollars). Souvenir prices were $1 each at the World's Fair (Columbian Exposition) in Chicago. All those, not sold at the Exposition, were later released for circulation at face value. Note: all USA commemoratives are legal tender coins at face value. As for the USA commemorative "proofs" involvement in this post here's the composition: 1892 - 1954 Silver Half Dollars / .900 silver, .100 copper. 1893 Isabella Silver Quarter / .900 silver, .100 copper 1903 - 1926 Gold coins / .900 gold .100 copper 1982 - Date Silver coins / .900 silver, .100 copper 1933 - Date Gold coins / .900 gold, .100 copper 1986 - Date Copper-Nickel coins / .750 copper, 250 nickel 1989 - Date Clad coins / 92% copper, 8% nickel 2000-W Bimetallic $10 Library of Congress commemorative / Core is .9995 platinum, Ring is .9167 gold, .0300 silver, .0533 copper What about proof Bullion coins? 1986 - Date Silver Eagles / .9993 silver, .0007 copper 1986 - Date Gold Eagles (all sizes) / .9167 gold, .0300 silver, /0533 copper 1997 - Date Platinum Eagles (all sizes) .9995 Patinum and is the only proof coin without copper in its composition. Remember all USA bullion coins have face value legal tender status in America. Hope you weren't bored with this post... Clinker
If you don't mind, a couple corrections. First off, the 1849 - 1889 Dollar only weighed 1.672 grams. Being 0.100 copper means it contained 0.1672 grams of copper. However, the 1982 - current Lincoln cent only weighs 2.5 grams with a net composition (core and coating together) of 0.975 zinc and 0.025 copper (per the Red Book). The means that it only contains 0.0625 grams of copper or nearly 1/3 of that found in the gold dollar. So actually, the circulating USA coin with the least amount of copper is the current Lincoln cent (excluding the 1943 Lincoln).
Just a guess, but gold? Gold and platinum are often found together and difficult to separate. But, again using the Red Book, American Eagle Platinum Bullion "contains 1 ounce of pure platinum"; $50 American Buffalo .9999 Fine Gold Bullion"; and "First Spouse $10 Gold Bullion Coins quarter ounce 24-Karat gold".
You, agained erred here on the 1982 Cent (you got the weight right): Redbook states, "The composition for this period changed to copper-plated zinc. The core is 99.2% zinc, 0.8%copper , with a plating of pure copper; the weight is 2.5 grams (approximately 20% lighter than the copper cents)." I do appreciate you reading, commenting and checking my research (sometimes, I'm wrong). Clinker
rim's cents: The change in your Redbook is incorrect. You cannot add 0.8% plus a plating of pure copper and get a sum less than 0.8%. However if you add the core composition of .992 zinc and .08 copper, you get a core per centage of 100%. There are other unintensional errors in your Redbook besides this one. Clinker
The Red Book is absolutely correct. It does not say .025%. It says .025 which is 2.5%. 2.5% is greater than 0.8% with the rest being 97.5%. BTW, that totals 100%.
Read more: http://www.cointalk.com/t91289/#ixzz0ehfcVVnS I just noticed that you stuck what I have bolded into my reply in post #8. You were not talking about silver dollars in the original post. Those were gold dollars and you original composition stated; 1.672 grams is the correct weight for gold dollars.
I've enjoyed the post and a lot of the give-and-take going on afterwards. Thanks to everyone and keep up the good stuff.
To rim's cents: First, let me apologize for placing a reference within yor quote, and let me agree I erred on the gold Dollar. Thanks for straightening me out on that. You have helped to get the true information about USA coins and their copper content. Clinker
Hi Art That proves there are many knowledgeable numismatists (collectors, dealers and moderators) perusing Coin Talk and we all can benefit by their input... Clinker
