Field notes · Coins · 6 November 2026
The rarest 1982 cent is proved by a mintmark, the shape of a date and 0.6 of a gram
Only two 1982-D Small Date cents struck in copper alloy are known, both NGC AU 58, CoinWeek recounted on 4 November 2026. The first sold for $18,800 in August 2017 and $8,400 in September 2019. The rare cent and a common one are 0.6 of a gram apart, and the scale reads it before the slab does.
By BSJ Ventures on the Brich House platform
In brief
CoinWeek published a guide on 4 November 2026 to the 1982-D Small Date cent struck on a copper-alloy blank, the one regular 1982 combination the Denver Mint was never meant to produce. In 1982 the Mint moved the cent from 95 percent copper, at 3.11 grams, to copper-plated zinc, at 2.50 grams. West Point struck the first zinc cents on 7 January 1982. Denver kept striking copper alloy for most of the year and, by the research of the late numismatist David W. Lange, struck its last on the morning of 21 October 1982, about an hour before zinc production began. A revised hub with a smaller date arrived the same year. That gives seven regular business-strike varieties, and Denver's Small Date was struck only in zinc. Two copper-alloy examples are known. NGC certified the first on 13 February 2017 at AU 58 BN, weighing 3.08 grams, "well within the Mint's tolerance for bronze cents", found by an anonymous Minnesota collector sorting a hoard of copper cents he had saved for their metal value. It sold for $18,800 at Stack's Bowers Galleries on 3 August 2017, lot 2031 of the Rarities Night sale at the ANA World's Fair of Money, Numismatic News reported. CoinWeek's price record then runs to $10,800 for the second coin at Heritage in April 2019 and $8,400 for the discovery coin at Heritage in September 2019, premiums included.
The coin's claim rests on three tests, and the slab records the result of all three. The D below the date. The Small Date style, where the tops of the numerals sit on one line and the 2 curves. The weight, read on a scale to a hundredth of a gram, because a Small Date zinc cent weighs about 2.50 grams and most heavy 1982-D cents are the common Large Date. CoinWeek notes that no published Mint record says where the leftover blanks came from, and NGC classes the coin as a mint error rather than an eighth variety. The second coin shows where a record thins out. Coin World reported on 15 February 2019 that NGC had no details of how or when it was found, that a major auction house submitted it, and that none of six houses contacted would confirm doing so. The same week brought two other readings of the record. Heritage sold a 140-coin set of Lincoln cents for $309,303 on 26 October, led by a 1914-D in PCGS MS64 Red at $11,895, CoinNews reported on 30 October; 93 of the 140 graded MS67 or higher. On 5 November CoinWeek published Roger W. Burdette's reading of the 1921 Peace dollar, in which Treasury shipment entries total 1,235,000 coins against a reported mintage of 1,006,473, a gap of 228,527 that he leaves unresolved. On the wider economy, the Federal Reserve held its target range at 3.75 to 4 percent on 28 October 2026. The 10-year Treasury yield was 4.84 percent on 5 November, US Treasury data show. The Bureau of Economic Analysis reported on 29 October that consumer spending rose 0.5 percent in September in current dollars, with the PCE price index 3.6 percent above a year earlier. Spot gold traded at $3,980.40 an ounce early on 30 October, CoinWeek reported, citing Reuters. Metal value is the floor under a bullion coin, and it was the reason the discovery cent was being sorted at all.
What it turns on
- Three tests, and all three pass or none does. A D below the date, the Small Date style with the numeral tops on one line, and a weight near 3.11 grams rather than 2.50. CoinWeek notes that most heavy 1982-D cents are the common Large Date, so weight alone proves nothing.
- The grader published the weight, the Mint published nothing. NGC's 2017 announcement gives the grade, AU 58 BN, the weight, 3.08 grams, and its class, a mint error struck on a leftover blank. CoinWeek found no Mint document saying where the blanks came from. The slab is the record of the test, and the Mint's record stops short of it.
- The second coin has a grade and no finder. Coin World reported in February 2019 that NGC did not know how or when the second coin was found, that an auction house submitted it, and that none of six houses asked would say so. Its grade matches the first. Its story does not.
What we do about it
- 01Weigh first. A scale that reads to 0.01 gram, the reading with the date it was taken, and the standard for that composition beside it. For a 1982 cent the gap between the two standards is 0.6 of a gram.
- 02Photograph the diagnostics. The mintmark, the date numerals and the lettering, at a magnification that shows the shape of the 2 and the line of the numeral tops, so the attribution can be checked without the coin in hand.
- 03Record the grader's reading, then verify it. The cert number, the stated grade and composition, and the date the number was checked on the grader's own site. A holder states a result. The lookup confirms the holder.
- 04Record each hand the coin passed through. The find date, the submission, and every sale with the house, the date, the lot number and the price with premium. A coin with two sales and no finder carries a thinner record than a coin with one sale and a finder.
Check it yourself
Tell us what you need held, or proven. Write to hello@brich.house