I just started roll searching cents for copper pennies but need to know the dates they stopped making copper cents, I have noticed some 82's that are zinc, did they make make both types in 81-82?? also is there a quick way to seperate with out going through each date? I went through $75 worth of cents and found $22 worth of copper and 16 wheats, oldest being a 1926, is this a common % to find??
1981 and back are your copper ones. 1982 they made both copper and copper covered zinc. I don't know of another way other than to look at the dates. Hope this helps....
I have learned to look for the color of the coins. Many times the older ones will have nice brown patenas. An easy way to look through them is to dump the coins on a small tray or plate and sort them that way. Also keeps my hands from cramping up.
Make a seasaw out of a popsicle stick...use it as a balance. The copper will tip it, the zinc wont. That was my old trick when I use to sort out the copper 82's. Dont forget the large and small dates, also keep them seperated.
