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Does anyone else flip their 1982 cents to see if they are copper? As I'm sure you all know the copper cents make a pretty pronounced and distinct ring when flipped. The zincs on the other hand just sound like a dud...If you're not a flipper, what method do you use to sort you're 82's?

cheapie gram scale.
copper 3.1 grams zinc 2.5 grams
I hand sort my boxes that way. (faster than trying to read dates).

Yeah, my 7-yr old can tell the difference by flipping them. The copper ones "bingle" the zincolns don't.

I bounce 82's on the wooden desk I hand sort on. Every three or four bags I stop sorting and weigh
them. After a while, if you're a hand sorter, you'll be able to tell if they're zincolns or not just by the feel
and heft.
But I still weigh the one's that passed the bounce test later on just to be sure. Bouncing or flipping is pretty accurate.

gram digital scale.....only way to go!

Z00 wrote:cheapie gram scale.
copper 3.1 grams zinc 2.5 grams
I hand sort my boxes that way. (faster than trying to read dates).

I also weight all mine since I can't read the dates anymore.

I agree with DirtyFingers about being able to "feel" the copper ones. I am probably only wrong about 1-2% of the time. I set them all aside and weigh at the end, but I set aside in 2 piles, what I think are zinc 82s vs what I think are copper 82s. I bought one of those cheapie $10 scales off of ebay and it works just fine.

I can typically tell by feel but here is how I verify. If the beam floats the cent is copper, if it drops, zinc. The stainless food scale in the background is for seeing which rolls to open first. It weighs in grams. As noted by others, the sound of them dropped is distinct as well.

mutiger

I flip my 82's, i just love that ringing sound.

I was using a digital gram scale but it crapped out . So now I'm using the old popsicle stick . This works great and I think I might prefer it over the scale.

I'm still using the 2 popsicle sticks to weigh them.

Digital scale is the way to go!

I use a digital scale. My seven year old daughter loves to help me sort out the '82's this way.

Ryedale Apprentice

Yeah, I flip em, but I get tired of doing it.

Have any of you guys physically weighed and know the weight of each of these?

1 Roll of copper pennies
1 $25 box of copper pennines

Shifty51 wrote:Have any of you guys physically weighed and know the weight of each of these?

1 Roll of copper pennies
1 $25 box of copper pennines

A roll of copper weighs 155.5 grams. A roll of zinc, 125 grams.

A box of copper weighs 17.14 lbs. A box of zinc, 13.78 lbs.
This does not include the weight of the wrapper. For rolls this amounts to about the difference between one copper and zinc. For the box it may be about a quarter to 3/8 ths of a pound.

I have a spreadsheet with weight vs percent copper if you would want. I can post the graphs or provide spreadsheet. PM if interested.

mutiger

I'm just happy using the Ryedale.

how much is a cheapie gram scale?I put my 82s in a can to deal with later. TY for any help

Thanks for the responses. I invested in a gram scale. It is an AWS - 100 Digital Scale by American Weigh Signature. It is accurate to a hundredth of a gram with a 100 gram capacity. It will also weigh in ounces down to a thousandth of an ounce. It is a pretty nice scale and seems to be working well. I paid $14 for it at a local store. I looked on Amazon and it looks like you can get the same scale online for $10 - $12.

Shifty51 wrote:Thanks for the responses. I invested in a gram scale. It is an AWS - 100 Digital Scale by American Weigh Signature. It is accurate to a hundredth of a gram with a 100 gram capacity. It will also weigh in ounces down to a thousandth of an ounce. It is a pretty nice scale and seems to be working well. I paid $14 for it at a local store. I looked on Amazon and it looks like you can get the same scale online for $10 - $12.

Yes and you have it in Hand, I have returned one an they replaced it no problem

I use it to check rolls, Use Popsicle stick as I go on 82 an Grungy

I found a cheap digital scale on eBay for $6.70 with free shipping (from Hong Kong). It's supposed to go from 0.01g to 200g so I plan to not only use it to weigh the individual 82's but to also weigh full rolls to weed out those 125g solid zinc ones. I'll find out if it is worth it or not when it arrives.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/280736811574

I've been using a US Magnum 500g x 0.1 pocket scale for about five years now and have had good
service from it. Recommended to me by a jeweler and if it was good enough for him....

I weigh the 82's in stacks of 6-10 and it goes pretty fast.

"Ring test" is a good method if you have really good ears; ring away musicians. I use a digital pocket scale. It measures in grams, ounces, troy ounces, and grains. Different models out there in the $10-15 range, and it works great for coins and pm's.

wisdom beat me again! though I got the best deal ever for $13 on ebay! still batteries were included, works like a charm. finding about 3 0r 4 out of ten coppers, is this the norm? TY.