So, I have decided to make the push and totally complete the 2 sets of Lincoln Cents I have. (1959-2012) This involved searching through my roughly 3500 pennies I have in varrious containers to fill in all the gaps and holes. Also brought me to my least favorite aspect of filling in these albums... determining which 1982 pennies are copper and which are zinc, and determining the small date and large date varrieties. For some reason, this is what I hate the most. So I devised a brilliant plan and took some wooden applicators from my wife's makeup stuff (still don't know WHY she has them), stole some coroed pencils from my kids craft box, and some packing tape we had lying around. Taped the pencil to the applicator roughly in the middle and then taped a pre 1982 (copper) penny to one end, and then took some pre 82 and post 82 pennies and found the spot on the other side where I could set the pennies and the copper pennies would lift the other side and the Zinc pennies would not move it. I tested it and made sure it was cionsistant and it worked like a champ, so I went through my 1982 pennies, sorted the copper form the zinc and was quite proud of myself. About this time, my internet searches found about 389,876 other people who have figured out the same thing a LONG time before me... and realized that the scale I use for charging R134a into A/C systems measures low enough it would have told me.... Somehow I feel less accomplished and less inteligent. Just thought I would share that with you all
Fun story there, that's for sure. Ever hear of the "Drop Test"? You take a pre-82 coin, drop it, then take a Zincoln and drop it. Hear the ring vs. the thud? You then take the 82 and drop it. If it is a thud, it is a Zincoln. If it rings, it is copper. I have never had to use any weights or measurements for these. All done by ear.
It's always fun to engineer something new, even if it isn't new to the world. I sort through pennies for fun with my kids. We get a $25 box of pennies and sort <1959, <1982, 1982 and >1982. When we get a pile of 1982's, we use my reloading scale to weigh them. I can get through 100 pennies in about a minute, but my kids have more fun weighing them, so I let them do it.
