Just found out there are 1982 pennies worth serious money if you have the right one. We're talking nearly 20k for a single coin. Apparently the U.S. Mint had production issues that year and accidentally created these rare copper-alloy versions that collectors are hunting for. The 1982-D Small Date is the one everyone's looking for - one sold for $18,800 back in 2016 and another popped up in 2019. Current value is probably around 18k if it's in good shape. The wild part? You might have one in your change jar right now. The Mint was switching from copper to copper-plated zinc in mid-1982 to save money, but the new setup wasn't working properly with the old die designs. So they modified the dies which created these transitional error coins. The key is weight - if you've got a 1982-D penny that weighs 3.1 grams, that's the rare copper-alloy version. You'll need a digital scale to check. Most people won't spot the difference just by looking at it. Pretty crazy that 1982 pennies worth money are potentially sitting in coin collections everywhere. Definitely worth checking your old coins if you have any from that era.