1982-P what the heck?

[Bob P]

Kinda seems like we are looking too hard for something here. A little bit thicker letter or things like that are probably not what they appear. Keep in mind that after the hubbing, strike, circulation wear, hits etc can take its toll on the surface of your coin.
You can tell from the surface of the pics that the coin is zinc. You can also tell Large Date and Small Date relatively easy. Once you see both of them together, you will understand why. As far a doubling of a couple of letters in the middle of a word probably means some sort of strike/mechanical doubling. Of course...as always, the only way to tell for sure is to see the coin in hand.

[coop]

I'm not saying with certainly either way, but it could be a strike through grease or a sever cleaning which removes the depth of the letters and make them appear smaller as the wider portion is removed with excessive cleanings, leaving the deeper die letters there, just not as deep as the field removal removed some the width/depth near the letters.

[Dick]

Aaron, I went to 6X zoom to check the "liber", and it appears to be MD. Looks like it got a "kiss" on the left side, and then seated. Or something! I've seen them that way, and also with "berty", that way. Either way, I believe it has to be from lateral movement.
Dick

[mikediamond]

The reduction in size and thickness of the last two letters is undoubtedly due to intentional die abrasion ("die polishing"). Whether this is related to any of the additional odd features that have been noted is uncertain.

[carlb]

Easier to make free scale and more fun.
Take any ice cream bar or popsicle and eat the ice cream or whatever is on the popsicle stick. Rinse the stick and dry it. Get a standard, everyday pencil, not round but the 6 sided ones. Can be stolen from your kids. Place the pencil on a flat service, put the stick on the end and balance it. Add a drop of glue to that spot on the pencil. You now have a balance beam scale and it was fun and fatening to make. As in any balance scale you place a pre 82 cent on one end and an 82 on the other end. If they balance, the 82 is Copper. If not, the 82 is Zinc. Of course you could do this in reverse. Place a post 82 cent on one end of the stick and an 82 on the other. Now if it balances, it's a Zinc one.
Regardless, when done, you still have a pencil and a wood stick for whitling.

[eagames]

Carl,

Check out:

http://www.coppercoins.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2121&highlight=free+scale

[smed]

It's so much easier to buy a digital scale. They're not expensive.

[Dick]

Why bother? Let the recyclers do the separating,! That's what they get paid to do. Eother way, we lose in the long run, because we are charged for the "product, when we buy, and if we don't recycle it after we are finished, and just toss it, we lose again! Even more.
Dick

[coppercoins]

Mike Diamond got to it before I did - the thinner letters are from die polishing - nothing to get excited about.

Additionally, the difference between zinc and brass cents from 1982 doesn't need to be a weight issue. If you drop a pre-1982 cent on a table, then drop a post-1982 cent on a table, you will notice a definite difference in the pitch of noise they make. The brass (or bronze if pre-1962) cent will make a high-pitch ringing, like a little bell, and the post-1982 zinc cent will make a dead-thud noise.

I can separate 1982 cents at a rate of over 100 per minute this way, and never miss one. I proved it one time with the local dealer, who was a smart-a$$ and bet me $50 I couldn't sort a baggie of 1982 cents faster than him. I let him go first...his time was 8:35 for a bag containing 354 coins. My time was 2:20 for the same bag. I took the $50 out in ounces of silver, which at the time was $7 each. I took 7 rounds, and still have them. At current silver rate, they are worth over $80. I'll cash them when the bet brings me $100....guess where I'll be cashing them in???

[carlb]