NC Mountain Man
New Type One Cent
Water damage on new pennies.
These were found laying in water in the bottom of an old clothes dryer in a wooded area that we were cleaning up. See how they are disintegrating away into nothing. I took them out and dried them off and was amazed at their condition. We guessed they were there for at least 20-25 years. New type pennies are made of a zinc core that is electroplated with copper, resulting in a composition of approximately 97.5% zinc and 2.5% copper. In the early 70s, the cost of the copper in a penny was nearly equal to the face value of the coin. Starting in 1982 the U.S. Mint switched to the copper-plated zinc composition to reduce the cost of producing pennies. That year had both the new and the old style planchets, so both can be found in circulation. The copper pennies weigh 3.11 grams, and the zinc ones weigh 2.5 grams.
New Type One Cent
Water damage on new pennies.
These were found laying in water in the bottom of an old clothes dryer in a wooded area that we were cleaning up. See how they are disintegrating away into nothing. I took them out and dried them off and was amazed at their condition. We guessed they were there for at least 20-25 years. New type pennies are made of a zinc core that is electroplated with copper, resulting in a composition of approximately 97.5% zinc and 2.5% copper. In the early 70s, the cost of the copper in a penny was nearly equal to the face value of the coin. Starting in 1982 the U.S. Mint switched to the copper-plated zinc composition to reduce the cost of producing pennies. That year had both the new and the old style planchets, so both can be found in circulation. The copper pennies weigh 3.11 grams, and the zinc ones weigh 2.5 grams.