I have a hand full of 1982 Cooper pennies but I also 1982 zinc pennies My question is why are they different if they were made the same year?
1982 was a transitional year for the US mint. Their intent was to start making the zinc core cents in 1982. However the mint still had billions of the old copper planchets to use up so the zinc core cents weren't struck until sometime middle of the year..... So yes, there are both copper and zinc core cents struck in 1982.
Another point to add to Randy's post: the cost of copper got to a point where materials and labor to produce a Cent cost more to make than it was worth. To offset the cost, the zinc core/copper plate was offered. Methods largely remained the same, so labor was steady...ish. Eventually the manufacturing method changed, improvements(?) made to the substrate/plating process to make making cents more viable. But that too is in challenge. The cent may be obsolete before we know it.
I think more 1982 cents were produced than any other coin/ denomination/ country in the history of the universe. Around 17 billion.
