For Lincoln cents, 1982 was a landmark year.
The U.S. Mint made the most significant switch in the composition of circulating coinage since 17 years earlier — when silver was removed from the U.S. dime and quarter and drastically reduced in the half dollar.
In 1982, the value of copper actually began to exceed the face value of the cent.
For well over a century (except for certain, short composition changes as seen with the 1943 steel cents and “shell-case” cents of 1944-1946), the U.S. Mint had been striking cents which using a composition of 95% copper and 5% zinc and tin.
Everything changed with a nearly complete reversal in copper prominence in cents during 1982, when the U.S. Mint started striking cents with a core comprised of 99.2% zinc and .8% copper — along with a thin outer coating of pure copper.
Starting in 1982, copper now comprised just 2.5% of the total metal content in the new Lincoln cents.
