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hawkeye
New Member
11 Posts |
 Posted - 09/04/2010 : 19:56:33
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I'm somewhat new to copper penny sorting. I've been sorting small scale by hand for about a year now. To this point, since both compositions were minted in 82, I have just been dumping all of them because I have no good method for telling the difference. But I've thrown out a lot of 82s and wonder how many good coppers I've missed. Is there a fairly easy way for a hand sorter to tell the difference? Thanks!
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Spikeanator6982
Penny Sorter Member
USA
99 Posts |
Posted - 09/04/2010 : 20:03:32
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| I find the majority, >50% are copper. Ways to tell, weigh them cu= 3.1 grams zinc = 2.5 grams or to bounce them, cu= more of a "ring" and zinc= more of just a thud. |
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bman
Penny Collector Member
USA
425 Posts |
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Corsair
Penny Hoarding Member
811 Posts |
Posted - 09/04/2010 : 20:11:27
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I was once in the same position you were in, Hawkeye. When I hand sorted, I originally pitched all of my '82s. But after realizing that there were about two or three in every roll, and that was an extra 4-6% in copper percentage, I decided to save them.
The first way I tested them was flipping them, like flipping a coin to see if it's heads or tails. Take a penny you know is copper and flip it. You'll hear a distinct ring. Then take a penny you know is zinc and do the same. No ring. If you're good at flipping coins, you'll get through them pretty fast.
The next way I did it was with a small, digital scale. I won it in a contest here on the forum. A zinc weighs 2.5 grams and a copper weighs 3.1 grams. If you have a good digital scale, you can go through them quickly. There's a member here, Mr. Bong, that in the past has sold a lot of digital scales. I won mine in his contest.
After that, and most recently, I used a Ryedale Ace. It's a mini version of the main machine, the Apprentice. You can drop a '82 in it and it'll automatically toss it to one side or the other. And, it'll do any other penny too. You can hand sort all your pennies this way, and I think it's a bit quicker than doing them the old fashioned way. If you're interested in getting an Ace, you could always click the link at the bottom of this post and toss in a bid on one. ;) |
So long, Realcent 1. Come visit us at Realcent.org! |
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mauk13r
Penny Sorter Member
USA
60 Posts |
Posted - 09/04/2010 : 20:22:58
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| Take a popsicle stick and glue it to a round object right in the middle. Glue a zinc lincoln to one end. When you place a 82 on the scale you have just made a copper penny will drop down and a zinc will either balance or not move. |
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thogey
1000+ Penny Miser Member
USA
1617 Posts |
Posted - 09/04/2010 : 20:24:16
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quote:
Originally posted by mauk13r
Take a popsicle stick and glue it to a round object right in the middle. Glue a zinc lincoln to one end. When you place a 82 on the scale you have just made a copper penny will drop down and a zinc will either balance or not move.
Dude, That's a great idea! |
Come to the new and improved realcent: http://realcent.org
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Beau
Penny Pincher Member
216 Posts |
Posted - 09/04/2010 : 22:21:00
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I tried the scales at Harbor Freight they have 2 different kinds, but neither one was right.
we tried 3 scales of each kind and they were off.
so where can I get a good scale? |
Edited by - Beau on 09/04/2010 22:22:02 |
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hawkeye
New Member
11 Posts |
Posted - 09/04/2010 : 22:49:04
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| Thanks for all the great tips. I just recently signed up so I could comment, but I've been reading for a while and there really is a lot of great information on these forums. That little balance idea sounds cool. I may end up trying to get a small scale if I can find a cheap one. |
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TheJonasCollegeFund
Penny Collector Member
USA
381 Posts |
Posted - 09/04/2010 : 23:20:04
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| Got my scale on E-bay. Was like $20. I'll dig it out later and give you the name brand. It will pay for itself in no time! |
MD Totals: Started Aug16th.(Updated Sept10th) 819 clad/cu coins/$41.13
Quarters-78
Dimes-122+1 silver roosie (1957)
Nickels-81 (56d,53d)
Copper Pennies-147
Zinc Pennies-386
Wheats-5 (36,36,46,46d,50d) |
Edited by - TheJonasCollegeFund on 09/04/2010 23:20:59 |
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aloneibreak
Penny Hoarding Member
USA
672 Posts |
Posted - 09/05/2010 : 00:46:15
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i think you'll find around 80% of your 82's will be copper...
i use a triton t2 scale by myweigh.
around 15 bucks i think
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My reading of history convinces me that most bad government results from too much government.
Thomas Jefferson
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Ejunkulator
New Member
USA
12 Posts |
Posted - 09/05/2010 : 02:50:07
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| I also hand sort. While I am sorting and run across an 82' I set them to the side then at the end of the session I take them and bounce them on my kitchen counter. The cu pennies will have more of a metallic ring to them and the zincs will have a flat thud to them, pretty easy to tell the diff after you get use to it just takes time. |
"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value --- zero."
Voltaire (1694-1778) |
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1945V
Penny Pincher Member
Canada
153 Posts |
Posted - 09/05/2010 : 07:53:17
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Isn't another way to tell zinc from copper visually ?
1982 copper pennies seem to have a more pronounced or deeper strike.
1982 zinc pennies seem to have a less pronounced or weaker strike.
It seems this is especially noticeable around the date itself ?
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ScottyTX
Penny Hoarding Member
USA
508 Posts |
Posted - 09/05/2010 : 11:47:55
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Just to add another way, you can always nick them on the edge or scratch them with a razor knife. The zinc shines like silver and the copper shines like copper. The copper plating is not very think at all. Of course, you are damaging the coins in this fashion so I don't advise unless the other methods aren't available/don't work. After a bit of looking at these from hand sorting, you can almost feel the weight and look at it in your hand shorly and tell the difference.
Scotty |
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Newbie 1982 Question
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