Do you have this rare 1983 copper penny?

American One Cent coins made prior to 1982 were produced using 95% solid copper.
In 1982, in an effort to save money, the US Mint began making the Cent coins out of copper-plated zinc planchets instead of solid copper.   Over 14 Billion one-cent coins were made in 1983, but by mistake, a very few were made from the pre-1982 solid copper planchets.
 (Currently, less than 3 or 4 are known to exist!)   These very rare copper cents are worth $5,000 to $10,000 each!    Cents are minted at both the Philadelphia Mint and Denver Mint, and are distributed nationwide, so check your pocket change!

To help you determine if you have one of these 1983 rare penny coins, here are a few tips to help you:

By weighing them.
This is the easiest and most reliable way to tell them apart.
The normal copper-plated cents weigh 2.5 grams. The ultra-valuable 1983 solid copper pennies weigh 3.1 grams
 

By appearance.
The normal, copper-plated zinc planchets often, (but not always), appear with very small "bubbles" in the copper plating.  These tiny bubbles show up well in the photo below, but are usually more difficult to see after the coins have been circulated.  The rare solid copper penny will not have the little bubbles.  PLEASE NOTE: just because you don't see these little bubbles, it does not mean you have the rare copper coin.  Use this appearance method only to rapidly discard any coins with the noticeable plating bubbles from further consideration.

click photo for enlarged image

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