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I found this penny wrapped in a waxy paper it's a silver color no copper at all, 1982 no mint mint mark and not a scratch on it. hope you can tell me what it is. the one on the left is a regular penny the one on the right is as silver as a dime.
From 1962 to 1982, the US 1 cent was 95% copper, 5% zinc
From 1982 to present, it has a 97.5% zinc core, with copper plating to make it look like a copper penny.
Zinc is a silvery looking metal and the most probable cause of your "silver looking" 1982 penny is that it missed the copper plating stage in the mint. Another possibly is that the copper plating has been removed after leaving the mint.
You could quickly test it with a magnet. Zinc is magnetic, while copper and silver are not.
As a side note, if you have a set up for cleaning coins with electrolysis, you can easily "silver" plate a copper penny. Instead of a stainless steel spoon, use a strip of metal cut out of a shiny coffee can and reverse the negative (-) and positive (-) leads to the opposite of what you use when "bubbling" crusty coins. The metal from the tin can readily gives up it's plating and the copper in the coin readily takes it. You'll end up with a "silver" looking penny.
I did it by mistake one time to a big old copper penny.
