Last night I decided to go through one Tupperware container of 1983 P cents for a weight check ( I still have another of 1983 D ). I counted out 200 coins. A full 80% came in at 2.8 grams each. The rest from 2.5-2.7. ( So, I know my scale is okay ) It seems a bit odd that the company sending/selling the stock to the Mint would be sending over weight stock to such a high degree. If the Mint is buying this stock at a certain price intending to make coins at a 2.5 weight, would the company making the stock not be losing money by selling over weight stock? And is/was the case of more quality control problems at the Mint? I have not done any modern coins to check to see if this was just a one year issue. Just curious and looking for your insight. Thanks. Tom
Never occurred to me to check the weight of my coins until I joined this forum. I suppose these days with so many forgeries out there we have to...... But thinking about your question. I wonder how much importance the mint places on cent weight in their quality control process. In my mind anyway, it is the other denominations have to be rather exact. That’s how vending machines, toll booths and all manner of commerce takes place. But that is done via other denominations that have to meet an exacting weight standard for the machine to recognize it. Not cents.... I really have no idea. Just mulling it in my mind and bloviating at what seems could be a probable conclusion.
Honestly I don't know. I did some wheat cents last night after I posted this and they all came out correctly. If anyone could do some 1983P cents and see what they come up with I would be very interested. That's why I'm wondering if this was a one year fluke with little oversight on the stock they used. I'll try some other dates tonight and see how they come out.
2.8 is not right. 2.5 for zinc, 3.1 for copper and I believe 2.7 for steel. There are some slight variations but if the scale is correct it shouldn't be +/- more than 1 tenth of a gram.
Yes sir. But Ken Potter has this ridiculous notion that all cents up to 1990 should be weighed. It was in an older article in NN shortly after the first off metal error was found. The Mint would still have copper stock laying around 7 years later? I think not.
Well there have been a few late 80's and early 90's that were found to be on copper planchets (all at Denver). You can't take anything out of the mint, a cleaning crew finds an old copper planchet stuck in a machine, and they just toss it in a bin full of zinc planchets, which is a reasonable theory. Logic says the 1st year of the transition might have more than 1. Although they transitioned in late 1982.
Legal tolerance is +/- 0.13g Scale accuracy is usually +/- 1 of the lowest unit. So a 2.8 reading - assuming proper calibration - is between 2.7 and 2.9g The legal tolerances are 2.370 to 2.630 I'd be more suspicious your calibration weight is a skosh light. Esp. if you try the 2 5g nickels = 10g trick.
