1982 Small Date Copper Penny

Specifications

Denomination: 1 cent
Series: Lincoln cent
Designer: Victor D. Brenner
Years of issue: 1982
Diameter: 19.05 mm
Edge: Plain
Mintage: 16725504368
Key mintages: Combined P/D business-strike mintage; per-variety (date-size/composition) mintages were not verified in consulted references. Dual composition (bronze and copper-plated zinc), so no single weight or composition figure is given.

noy-nac / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Weigh your 1982-D small date cent: bronze at about 3.11 g is the transitional rarity, zinc at 2.5 g is pocket change (Numismatic News).

History

1982 was the Lincoln cent’s transition year: rising copper prices forced the Mint to stop striking the 95%-copper bronze cent at a loss, and mid-year production switched to copper-plated zinc planchets — 97.6% zinc with a 2.4% copper plating that kept the familiar copper look. The new zinc cents weigh 2.5 g versus 3.11 g for the old bronze ones (Numismatic News).
Because the Mint had trouble striking the new planchets with the existing dies, the date punches were modified mid-year, creating Small Date and Large Date varieties. Combined with the two compositions and the Philadelphia and Denver mints, 1982 produced seven circulating varieties: Philadelphia bronze large and small date, Philadelphia zinc large and small date, Denver bronze large date, and Denver zinc large and small date, plus a San Francisco proof (Numismatic News).
The prize is the 1982-D Small Date struck in bronze — a transitional error that was not supposed to exist, since Denver was only supposed to strike small-date cents in zinc. The first authenticated example was found by a Minnesota collector sorting 1982 cents by weight for their copper melt value; copper-alloy cents weigh 3.1 g and copper-plated zinc cents 2.5 g. The discovery turned the classic seven-coin 1982 set into an eight-coin set (Numismatic News).
The Small Date versus Large Date call is made on the date style: on the Small Date the ‘2’ sits noticeably further from the rim than on the Large Date, with a more delicate, curved shape; the Large Date ‘2’ is bolder and straighter (Numismatic News).

What is it worth

Price ranges were not documented in the consulted references for this entry — compare live listings in the Market check below.
The prize is the 1982-D Small Date struck in bronze — a transitional error that was not supposed to exist, since Denver was only supposed to strike small-date cents in zinc (Numismatic News).
Zinc at 2.5 g is pocket change; bronze at about 3.11 g is the transitional rarity (Numismatic News).
1982-D bronze small date — transitional error; first example found and confirmed after 34 years (Numismatic News).

What drives the premium

The premium combination is bronze weight plus Small Date plus Denver mintmark (Numismatic News).
The first authenticated example was found by a Minnesota collector sorting 1982 cents by weight for their copper melt value (Numismatic News).

How to identify the valuable variety

The weight test is the definitive home diagnostic: bronze 1982 cents weigh about 3.11 g and copper-plated zinc cents weigh 2.5 g — a digital scale accurate to 0.01 g separates them (Numismatic News). For the 1982-D Small Date, bronze weight plus Small Date plus Denver mintmark is the combination that matters.
Small Date versus Large Date: on the Small Date the ‘2’ sits noticeably further from the rim and has a more delicate, curved shape than the bolder Large Date (Numismatic News).
Authentication caution: because the 1982-D bronze small date is so valuable, any candidate weighing ~3.1 g with a Small Date and D mintmark should be authenticated by PCGS or NGC before being bought or sold as genuine; most 1982 cents are common (Numismatic News).
1982 produced seven circulating varieties: Philadelphia bronze large and small date, Philadelphia zinc large and small date, Denver bronze large date, and Denver zinc large and small date, plus a San Francisco proof (Numismatic News).

Specifications

Composition: Bronze: 95% copper, 5% zinc at 3.11 g; copper-plated zinc: 97.6% zinc with 2.4% copper plating at 2.5 g (Numismatic News)
Weight: 3.11 g (bronze) or 2.5 g (copper-plated zinc) (Numismatic News)
Diameter: 19.05 mm (Wikipedia)
Edge: Plain (Wikipedia)
Alignment: Not verified in consulted references
Designers: Obverse: Victor David Brenner; reverse: Frank Gasparro (APMEX)
Mint: Philadelphia (no mintmark) and Denver (D) for business strikes; San Francisco struck proofs only (Numismatic News; Wikipedia)

Collector notes

The composition change was a cost decision, not a design change: the Mint was losing money striking copper-alloy cents, and the plated-zinc composition kept production cost under face value with few collectors noticing at the time (Numismatic News).