Last year for copper pennies professional#

The 1982 zinc penny with no mint mark and the small date is worth around $0.85 in uncirculated condition with an MS 65 grade. Zinc Penniesġ982 zinc pennies are composed of 99.2% zinc and 0.8% copper. Lastly the 1982 S proof copper penny is worth around $2.50 in PR 65 condition. The 1982 D copper penny is worth around $1 in uncirculated condition with an MS 65 grade.

The 1982 copper penny with no mint mark and the large date is worth around $1 in uncirculated condition with an MS 65 grade. The 1982 copper penny with no mint mark and the small date is worth around $2 in uncirculated condition with an MS 65 grade. The current copper melt value for each penny is about $0.02.

Copper Penniesġ982 Copper pennies are composed of 95% copper, and 5% zinc. These coins can only sell for a premium in uncirculated condition. Most 1982 pennies in circulated condition are only worth either their face value of $0.01 or their weight in copper if they are of the copper variety. Small date and large date varieties also exist for some series. Zinc pennies weigh 2.5 grams and copper pennies weigh 3.11 grams. The easiest way to tell what type of penny you have is to weigh it with a calibrated gram scale. Therefore some 1982 pennies will be copper and some will be copper-plated zinc. 1982 was the year that the penny's composition transitioned from copper to copper-plated zinc. There are different varieties of 1982 pennies. The mint mark, when present, can be found on the obverse side of the coin below the date. The US minted the 1982 penny with no mint mark and also the 1982 D penny and 1982 S proof penny. Keep reading to learn more about these one cent coins. However these pennies can sell for a premium in uncirculated condition.

Last year for copper pennies professional#

However, in 2010, one certified by the Professional Coin Grading Service was sold for a record $1.7 million by Legend Numismatics.Most 1982 Lincoln pennies aren't valuable. Heritage Auctions currently lists Lutes's authentic 1943 Lincoln cent at a whopping $130,000, which jumps to $156,000 with the added Buyer's Premium. While the coin wasn't purchased off the auction block, it reportedly raked in $40,000 in a private sale shortly after. Embassy in Cuba Was Actually Crickets )Īfter being dispelled by the Treasury Department, Lutes decided to keep his 1943-branded coin for his personal collection.Īround 10 years after Lutes had given up on trying to monetize his find, a 14-year-old from California had his coin authenticated and placed in the 1958 ANA Convention Auction. 'All pennies struck in 1943 were zinc coated steel.'

'In regard to your recent inquiry, please be informed that copper pennies were not struck in 1943,' the department wrote. Lutes also reached out the the Treasury Department about his find, but he was met with a stale and standard response that all collectors were given. Lutes heard this rumor and inquired with Ford Motor Company, but they set the record straight, denying that Ford had many any such promise. The legend of the penny only grew when a rumor spread saying that Henry Ford would award a new car to whoever could provide him with one of the fabled coins. When they became dislodged, they were printed and circulated with the millions of steel copies. However, a few of the copper planchets that were used to cast the Lincoln cent in 1942 got lodged in a trap door of a bin used to feed blanks into the press. Mint to cast all pennies in 1943 out of zinc-coated steel blanks. In an effort to conserve copper, the Treasury Department asked the U.S. Lutes's cent was pressed in 1943 amid World War II, when copper was an integral component in making wartime necessities like phone wire and bullet casings. Now, we know what you're thinking: What makes this penny so special? How could it possibly be worth 13 million times its original value? (MORE: Iguanas Return to Galápagos Island for the First Time in 200 Years ) The brown and worn Lincoln penny Lutes pocketed has been sought out by collectors for years, and only a handful of legitimate examples have been discovered, according to Heritage Auctions. This mysterious and ultra-valuable coin Lutes came across? It was a penny. and the current highest bid is well over $100,000. Now, some 70 years later, the coin is being auctioned off. was a 16-year-old high school student in Massachusetts when he stumbled across one of the most famous error coins in American history in the cafeteria in 1947.