The extremely rare 1983 Lincoln cent minted in bronze plate

An extremely rare 1983 Lincoln cent minted in bronze plate has sold on the coin buying and selling market for just under $30 000.

A 1983 Lincoln cent minted in bronze recently sold for nearly $30,000 in the coin buying and selling market. What makes this coin so valuable? Let's take a closer look.

But first, a bit of background on the bronze Lincoln cent in the coin buying and selling market. On July 28, GreatCollections offered this specimen in an auction and realized $29,250, including the buyer's premium. The bidding closed at 49 bids.

GreatCollections' description for this auction was simple and to the point: "A Gem example of the popular transitional error struck on a bronze planchet left over from 1982 or earlier. This is the variety that is best known by far." Many in the hobby seemed to agree, as evidenced by the number of bids it attracted.

What Makes This Bronze Coin So Valuable in the Coin Buying and Selling Market?

Lincoln cents struck from 1963 through mid-1982 were made of a solid brass composition of 95% copper and 5% zinc. Collectors often refer to them as "bronze," which was the traditional alloy of 95 percent copper with the remainder zinc and tin, used between 1909 and 1962. Both bronze and brass cents weigh 3.11 grams (composition source).

Commercial-strike cents minted from mid-1982 to the present are struck on planchets that have a solid zinc core. These are then plated in pure copper and weigh 2.5 grams. This is what the coin in question should have been struck on. But somehow, it ended up being struck on a bronze planchet left over from 1982 or earlier.

Collectors refer to these as transitional errors, and the latest one we covered on CoinNews was discovered by Ernie Gesner of Oregon in May 2021, though it is not the only time we've seen this variety.

Other Finds Relating to 1982-D Coins

Other finds relating to 1982-D small-date coins and 1983-D cents struck on solid bronze planchets have been discovered over the years, and both caught the attention of collectors, who didn't hesitate to bid on them. The 1982-D coin sold for $18,800 and the 1983-D went for $17,625.

Then a second 1982-D cent, also purporting to be bronze, surfaced but was not well preserved. This piece didn't pass the muster and was returned to the owner, who had it cleaned up a bit before sending it back to be graded by Numismatic Guarantee Corporation (NGC). This specimen was sold by Heritage in September 2019, realizing $8,400.

Another related example is a 1989-D Lincoln cent struck on a pre-1983 bronze cent planchet and graded PCGS MS-65 RD. This specimen sold for $3,525 in the Rarities Night auction on Aug. 11, 2016.

Meanwhile, Heritage Auctions sold a 1990-D cent struck on a 3.1-gram copper alloy planchet, pre-1983, for $5,540 (market and prices source). It was a PCGS MS-64 Brown specimen, and this transaction took place in January 2018.