Rare pennies to look for in your change

Most Lincoln cents in a jar spend at face value. A short list of dates, mint marks, and varieties is what collectors ask to see. The way to tell them apart is the reverse, the date, and the letter under the date. If you cannot see the thing the series page describes, you do not have that coin.

Start with the back. Two wheat ears are a Lincoln Wheat cent, 1909 through 1958. The wheat cents note shows that sort. A building is a Lincoln Memorial cent, 1959 through 2008. Four different 2009 backs live on the Bicentennial cent page. The Union Shield is the Shield cent from 2010. A headdress instead of Lincoln is an Indian Head cent, the copper series before this one. The U.S. Mint's penny page spells out the same reverse split: wheat ears from 1909 to 1958, Frank Gasparro's Memorial from 1959 to 2008, then the Shield in 2010.

Common Memorial and Shield cents spend at face value. What happens to the pennies already in drawers is the penny note.

Read the date, then the letter under it

The date does more work than the portrait. On Wheat and Memorial cents the mint mark sits under the date. No letter means Philadelphia. D is Denver. S is San Francisco. The Shield page says a P under the date starts in 2017.

On a 1909 Wheat cent, look between the wheat ears for the designer's initials, V.D.B. Later the initials come back smaller, on Lincoln's shoulder. A 1909 with initials and no mint mark is a different coin from a 1909-S with initials.

Work over a soft cloth. Leave any holder with the coin that came in it.

Wheat cents that matter

These are the dates the Wheat cent page names first. The mintage chart on that page is Bureau of the Mint manufacture figures. A missing date in an album is a hole. It does not identify the coin in your hand.

1909-S V.D.B. Victor David Brenner's initials sit on the reverse of some 1909 cents. The chart's 1909-S cell is 2,618,000, and that cell mixes V.D.B. with the cents that have no V.D.B. PCGS CoinFacts prints 484,000 for the 1909-S V.D.B. itself. A Philadelphia 1909 V.D.B. is the other coin. The S under the date is the one people mean.

1914-D. The chart lists 1,193,000. PCGS CoinFacts prints the same figure. The D is under the date. A 1914 with no letter, and a 1914-S, are different coins.

1922 No D. The chart's only 1922 row is 1922-D, at 7,160,000. The page says the pamphlet has 1922-D only, and that 1922 No D, also called Plain, is a variety under that row. NGC prints it as No D Strong Reverse. The 7,160,000 is the Denver manufacture. The variety is the missing or unreadable letter inside that row.

1931-S. The chart lists 866,000. PCGS CoinFacts prints the same figure. The S is under the date.

1955 doubled die obverse. The date and LIBERTY show the doubled letters. PCGS and NGC both name it. The chart's 1955 Philadelphia row is 330,958,200, the year's manufacture. The doubled die stays a named variety beside that year. NGC's note on doubled dies and machine doubling says some 20,000 to 24,000 of those doubled-die cents were already mixed in with the other cents struck that night. A flat shelf on an ordinary 1955 is machine doubling. The section below is how to tell them apart.

1943 bronze and 1944 steel

The ordinary 1943 cent is zinc-coated steel. The Mint's penny page says pennies that year were made of zinc-coated steel because copper was needed during World War II, and that a limited number of copper pennies were struck by mistake at the beginning of the year. The Wheat page treats that copper 1943 as a wrong-planchet coin, and it treats a 1944 cent struck on leftover steel the same way. The chart's 1943 rows are the steel cents. The chart's 1944 figures are the bronze cents of that year. A steel 1944 is the leftover-planchet error the page names.

A magnet is a clue on 1943. The ordinary steel cent sticks. Rust, or a copper plating on a steel cent, still leaves you with the steel coin. The wheat cents note says the same thing. Plated cents, a 1948 date changed to read 1943, and when to ask PCGS or NGC are in 1943 steel penny value.

Memorial doubled dies, and the 1992 Close AM

The Memorial cent page names doubled dies for 1969-S, 1972, 1983, 1984, and 1995, and it leaves the year's mintage on the chart. The 1969-S and the 1972 are doubled die obverses. Guides name more than one 1972 die. The doubling you are looking for is the raised second outline, the same on every coin from that die.

On 1992 and 1992-D, the page lists a Close AM reverse: the A and M in AMERICA sit close together. The usual business-strike reverse that year is Wide AM. The chart keeps the year's totals. Close AM stays a letter-spacing variety inside those rows. On some 1998, 1999, and 2000 business strikes, the variety the page names is Wide AM, the other spacing.

Doubled die, or machine doubling

A doubled die happens while the die is being made. The hub has to press the design into the die more than once. If the hub and the die shift between those presses, the finished die carries two impressions. Every coin from that die shows the same extra outline. On the letters, the serifs split. NGC uses the 1955 doubled die obverse and the 1972 doubled die obverse as the pictures.

Machine doubling happens at the strike. The die is loose, it bounces, and it leaves a flat shelf beside the digits or the letters. That shelf changes from coin to coin. NGC also calls it strike doubling, ejection doubling, shelf doubling, and shift doubling.

Look at the date and at LIBERTY. Raised letters with a split serif, matching across the motto, are the die. A flat shelf on one side of the digits, with the serifs still joined, is the press. A 1969-S with only that shelf is an ordinary San Francisco cent.

Leave the surface alone

Cleaning is the fastest way to make a decent coin look worse to a dealer. Water, polish, foil, and a cloth used like sandpaper change the surface. The ANA collecting FAQ gives the short answer: leave the coin alone. Dirt can stay. If someone already cleaned a cent, say so when you show it.

Brown, red-brown, and red are copper color labels. They describe remaining original color. They are not a second grade. You do not need a slab to sort a jar. A coin already in a PCGS or NGC holder can stay in that holder.

Take the coin to a shop or a show

When a date on this list is actually in your hand, take it to a person who buys coins. The coin dealer directory lists public shops, including Ohio coin dealers. A coin show puts several tables in one afternoon. Bring the coin as it is. A local dealer will make you an offer.

The rest of a mixed jar, silver and gold included, is what old coins are worth money.

People Also Ask

Which Lincoln cents should I pull out of a jar?

The Wheat dates named on this site are the 1909-S V.D.B., the 1914-D, the 1922 Plain, the 1931-S, and the 1955 doubled die obverse. On Memorial cents, the page names a 1969-S doubled die, a 1972 doubled die, and a 1992 Close AM. The charts are the Lincoln Wheat cent and the Lincoln Memorial cent.

Where is the mint mark on a Lincoln cent?

On Wheat and Memorial cents it sits under the date. No letter means Philadelphia. D is Denver. S is San Francisco. On a 1909 Wheat cent, V.D.B. sits on the reverse, between the wheat ears. The Shield cent page says a P under the date starts in 2017.

How can I tell a doubled die from machine doubling?

A doubled die is hubbed into the die, so every coin from that die shows the same raised second outline, with split serifs on the letters. Machine doubling is a flat shelf from the die bouncing as it strikes. The 1955 doubled die shows on the date and on LIBERTY. The Wheat and Memorial pages name the dies. A shelf on an ordinary date is the press.

Is a 1943 cent that sticks to a magnet the rare one?

A magnet on a 1943 cent points at the zinc-coated steel coin of that year. The copper 1943 is the wrong-planchet coin the Wheat cent page names, and a steel 1944 is the other transitional error on that page. Plated cents and altered 1948 dates are in 1943 steel penny value.

Should I clean a penny before I ask about it?

No. Cleaning is the fastest way to make a decent coin look worse to a dealer. Leave the dirt and the color. Brown, red-brown, and red are copper color labels.

Where do I take a penny from this list?

Take it to a local shop or a coin show. Browse coin dealers, including a state page such as Ohio coin dealers, or see upcoming coin shows. A local dealer will make you an offer.