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pencilvanian
1000+ Penny Miser Member
USA
2209 Posts |
 Posted - 09/10/2007 : 20:36:52
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Taking the figures from the Whitman Redbook and adding up the cents meant for circulation 1959-1981
(not counting the pennies made for proof sets and the production of 1982 cents since the exact figure of copper 82's is unknown)
The grand total of all circulating copper US Pennies (1959-1981)
141,388,387,302 cents minted.
Weight of cents @3.1 grams
About 438,304,000,636.20 grams (figures may be off, the spreadsheet might be off a little.)
Figuring there are 28.3495 grams in one regular Avoirdupois ounce, not to be confused with a troy ounce, the figure is roughly 15,460,731,252 ounces
@16 oz per pound we get
966,295,703.3 pounds of pennies (483,147.8516 tons for anyone keeping score)
Yes, I will admit that many of the pennies minted from 1959-1981 have vanished into oblivion, but it is safe to take for granted that a good portion still exist. Maybe 50%-75% of all copper cents minted can still be found throughout the country(A fair guess.)
I know that the mintage figures listed in the Redbook may be viewed as less than 100% accurate since the figures come from the US Mint and the Mint may have fudged the figures for whatever reason.
However, considering that the US Mint had to/has to report to Congress and/or to the Secretary of the Treasury how many coins were minted, and if the mintage figures are different from actual mint producton, it would look rather embarrassing to the Treasury if such a thing were to happen. The Treasury would NOT want such an embarrassment to happen, nor would the Director of the Mint want to face the limelight of how the Mint produced less coins than what they claimed.
Somebody at the Mint would have talked to Coin News about a coin manipulation scandal by now if the figures were Not on the Up and Up, or else drop a dime on the coin shortage to the Treasury Inspector General who investigates potential or actual fraud going on in the Treasury.
Figures gathered from the Whitman Redbook/US Mint
1981D-5,373,235,677
1981 -7,491,750,000
1980D-5,140,098,660
1980 -7,414,705,000
1979D-4,139,357,254
1979 -6,018,515,000
1978D-4,280,233,400
1978 -5,558,605,000
1977D-4,194,062,300
1977 -4,469,930,000
1976D-4,221,592,455
1976 -4,674,292,426
1975D-4,505,275,300
1975 -5,451,476,142
1974D-4,235,098,000
1974 -4,232,140,523
1973D-3,549,576,588
1973 -3,728,245,000
1972D-2,665,071,400
1972 -2,933,255,000
1971D-2,911,045,600
1971 -1,919,490,000
1970D-2,891,438,900
1970 -1,898,315,000
1969D-4,002,832,200
1969 -1,136,910,000
1968D-2,886,269,600
1968 -1,707,880,970
1967 -3,048,667,100
1966 -2,188,147,783
1965 -1,497,224,900
1964D-3,799,071,500
1964 -2,644,624,238
1963D-1,774,020,400
1963 - 751,034,355
1962D-1,793,148,140
1962 - 602,826,981
1961D-1,753,266,700
1961 - 750,316,756
1960D-1,580,884,000
1960 -584,713,398
1959D-1,279,760,000
1959 -608,565,709
San Francisco cents minted for circulation
1968S-255,228,495
1969S-541,440,369
1970S-687,927,194
1971S-521,912,726
1972S-373,678,112
1973S-314,416,959
1974S-406,814,092
I should have chosen "Cut-n-Paste" as a forum name, since that is what I do, mostly.
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1959-1981 penny production
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