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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;phillipaanderson, post: 3329982, member: 100399&quot;]<font size="5"><b>a back story on the coin from funtimesguide.com</b></font></p><p><font size="5"><br /></font></p><p><font size="5"><b>The Story Behind The Rare 1982 Copper Penny</b></font></p><p>Where did the valuable 1982 copper penny come from — and why is it so rare?</p><p><br /></p><p>The 1982-D Small Date copper penny is known as a <a href="http://www.coinworld.com/voices/bill-gibbs/2015/09/transitional_errors.html" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://www.coinworld.com/voices/bill-gibbs/2015/09/transitional_errors.html" rel="nofollow">transitional error coin</a> since it was minted from copper during a year when the United States Mint was beginning to make zinc pennies.</p><p><br /></p><p>The <a href="https://coins.thefuntimesguide.com/facts-about-the-us-mint/" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://coins.thefuntimesguide.com/facts-about-the-us-mint/" rel="nofollow">US Mint</a> switched from copper (more specifically, brass) to copper-plated zinc pennies — due to rising copper prices.</p><p><br /></p><p>This wasn’t the first time the Mint had traded copper pennies in for a less-expensive type of penny. Less than a decade earlier, in 1973, the U.S. Treasury and Mint developed a less-expensive type of penny, and aluminum became the metal of choice.</p><p><br /></p><p>The Mint struck more than 1.5 million <a href="https://coins.thefuntimesguide.com/1974-penny-value/" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://coins.thefuntimesguide.com/1974-penny-value/" rel="nofollow">1974 aluminum pennies</a>. While many were given to congressmen and others for inspection, they were soon recalled when government officials decided the coins weren’t going to become official.</p><p><br /></p><p>There were worries that the aluminum pennies wouldn’t show up on X-rays if they were swallowed by children, and the vending machine industry took aim at the new penny — which they claimed wouldn’t work without expensive overhauls to equipment across the country.</p><p><br /></p><p>Copper prices also temporarily dropped, and the 1974 aluminum penny didn’t stick around. Yet, only a few short years later the debate rose again as copper prices soared. By 1981, the U.S. Treasury was back to work on creating a cheaper metal for the penny — and the copper-plated zinc composition was born.</p><p><br /></p><p>The first zinc Lincoln cents, or <a href="https://coins.thefuntimesguide.com/zinc_penny/" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://coins.thefuntimesguide.com/zinc_penny/" rel="nofollow">Zincolns</a>, were minted at the West Point Mint on January 7, 1982, and the last official business-strike copper pennies were made late in the year. The 1982 West Point zinc pennies have no <a href="https://coins.thefuntimesguide.com/mint_marks_letters_on_coins/" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://coins.thefuntimesguide.com/mint_marks_letters_on_coins/" rel="nofollow">mintmarks</a> — so they look like Philadelphia pennies and can’t be distinguished from them.</p><p><br /></p><p>Not including the 1982-D Small Date copper penny, the changes in composition and modifications to the appearance of the date means there are 8 other types of 1982 pennies:</p><p><br /></p><ul> <li>1982 Large Date copper penny</li> <li>1982 Small Date copper penny</li> <li>1982-D copper penny</li> <li>1982 Large Date zinc penny</li> <li>1982 Small Date zinc penny</li> <li>1982-D Large Date zinc penny</li> <li>1982-D Small Date zinc penny</li> <li>1982-S copper proof penny</li> </ul><p>[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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