How Much Is My Penny Worth?

By Susan Headley, About.com Guide

 See More About:

• pennies
• cents
• lincoln cents
• price guides
• wheat pennies

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Question: How Much Is My Penny Worth?

These links will take you straight to the value guides. If you need additional information, see below.

• Wheat Penny Values
• Indian Head Penny Values
• Flying Eagle Penny Values – See Section Below

 

Answer: To find out how much your U.S. penny is worth, we first need to determine its type. The U.S. has made two major types of pennies, the Large Cent and the Small Cent. The Large Cents are dated 1857 and earlier, and are much bigger and heavier than our current penny type, the Small Cent. If you have Large Cents in your collection that you need information or values for, I recommend that you find an honest coin dealer to help you evaluate them, as Large Cents have many different varieties for most dates, and shouldn’t be priced using an online price guide if you want maximum money for them.

Determine Your Penny Type

If your penny is the Small Cent type, it will be about the same size as the ones we use today although it might be a tiny bit heavier. To find your penny type, you can look it up here:

• U.S. Coin Identification Chart

What is My Flying Eagle Cent Worth?

If your small-sized penny is dated 1857 or 1858, it is a Flying Eagle Cent. A Flying Eagle Cent in pretty worn-out condition is worth about $15 to $25 if you sold it to a coin dealer. (Note: All of my coin prices are realistic amounts that a dealer will pay you. They’re not retail or “catalog” values like you find virtually everywhere else. Most people looking for coin prices want to know how much they can sell their coins for today.)

If your Flying Eagle Cent is dated 1856, you need to take it to a dealer to get an appraisal. This penny is very rare, with a mintage of only 2,000 specimens, and forgeries and alterations of this date are far more common than the genuine 1856. The 1856 Flying Eagle Cent is considered to be a pattern coin (rather than a circulation issue) by many experts.

What is My Indian Head Penny Worth?

Indian Head pennies are dated from 1859 through 1909, and have a depiction of Lady Liberty wearing an Indian-style feathered headdress, hence the misnomer “Indian Head” Penny. In general, all Indian Head Pennies are worth at least $1 each, even in very worn condition, as long as they’re not badly damaged. For a full chart of Indian Head Penny prices, see:

• Indian Head Penny Price Guide

What is My Wheat Penny Worth?

Wheat Pennies are dated from 1909 to 1958, and have a portrait of Lincoln on one side, and a wreath-like design of wheat heads on the other. Sometimes called “Lincoln Cents” (without mentioning the Memorial as described below,) they are made of almost pure copper (95%) except for one year, the 1943 penny, which is made of zinc-plated steel. All Wheat Pennies are worth at least 3 times face value, but of course many are worth substantially more, especially the key date Wheat Pennies.

• Wheat Penny Price Guide

What is My Lincoln Memorial Penny Worth?

Lincoln Memorial Pennies are dated 1959 to current, and have a portrait of Lincoln on one side with the Lincoln Memorial building on the other. They were made of 95% copper until 1982. During 1982 the composition was changed to 97.5% zinc, with a thin copper plating, so that you have pennies dated 1982 made of both metal types. From 1983 until today, all U.S. pennies are made of mostly zinc. Most Lincoln Memorial Pennies are only worth face value unless they have their original copper luster from the Mint.

• Lincoln Memorial Penny Prices

In 2009, the U.S. Mint will issue a special commemorative set of 4 pennies to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Lincoln Cent design. At this time, Lincoln Cents are expected to enjoy a surge in popularity, which will hopefully mean higher values for these incredibly popular pennies. More Coins Q&A

Famous Pennies

A New 1943-S Copper Penny Is DIscoveredThe Finest Known Lincoln Wheat CentThe Rare 1877 Indian Cent in MS-66 Red

Lincoln Cents

Should We Dump the Penny?The Fascinating Story Behind the Lincoln CentList of Major Lincoln Memorial Die Varieties

The 1943 Penny

What Is my 1943 Penny Worth?How to Tell if Your 1943 Copper Penny Is Genuine1943 Chrome-Plated Pennies

Related Articles

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• Lincoln Memorial Key Dates – Lincoln Cent Keys – Lincoln Penny Key Coins
• Lincoln Penny Values – Coin Values for Lincoln Memorial Cents – How Much ar…
• Lincoln Cent Varieties & History – All About the Wheat Penny & Linc…
• U.S. Small Cents – What are the U.S. Small Cents – Which Pennies are Consid…

Coin Update News:

2010 Lincoln Cent Exchanges in Washington DC on February 25

By Coin Update Staff on February 23rd, 2010
Categories: US Coins, United States Mint

Washington, DC area coin exchanges for the newly designed 2010 Lincoln Cent have been rescheduled for February 25, 2010. The exchanges had previously been scheduled to take place on February 11, 2010, but were canceled due to a fierce winter storm that had closed down federal agencies for much of the week.

Although the Washington DC exchanges had been canceled, the official launch ceremony held in Springfield, Illinois proceeded as planned on February 11. Approximately one thousand people were on hand to witness the official presentation of the 2010 Lincoln Cent, which features the Union Shield on the reverse. Following the launch ceremony, a coin exchange was held where attendees were allowed to exchange currency for rolls of the new Lincoln Cents. There were a total of 20,000 rolls, or one million coins, exchanged at the Springfield event.

The February 25, 2010 Washington DC exchanges will be held at the US Mint sales counter located at Union Station and the first floor of the US Mint’s headquarters at 801 9th Street NW. The rolls will be available from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM.

Exchanges will take place at face value, with currency exchanged for the corresponding number of 2010 Lincoln Cent rolls. There will be a minimum of two and a maximum of six rolls imposed.

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

2010 Union Shield Lincoln Cent Launch Ceremony

Posted by: Michael | Posted in: 2009 Lincoln Cents

The United States Mint will host the launch ceremony for the newly designed 2010 “Union Shield” Lincoln Cent later this week. The ceremony takes place after some of the coins have already reached the channels of circulation.

Update 2/10/2010 9:30 PM ET: The Springfield, Illinois launch ceremony will take place tomorrow as scheduled. The Washington DC coin exchanges will not take place as the Federal Government is closed tomorrow due to the blizzard.

The new reverse design features a Union Shield with a scroll draped across, bearing the denomination “One Cent”. The shield has thirteen vertical stripes and a horizontal bar with the inscription “E Pluribus Unum”, representing the original states joined in one compact union in support of the federal government. This design is intended to be emblematic of Lincoln’s preservation of the United States as a single and united country.

The launch ceremony will be held on February 11, 2010, 9:30 AM CT at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum located at 212 N. Sixth Street in Springfield, Illinois. The ceremony will be followed by a coin exchange, where attendees will be allowed to exchange currency for rolls of the new coins. The US Mint has announced a minimum of two rolls and a maximum of six rolls for the exchange (subject to change).

On the same date, coin exchanges will also be available at locations in Washington, DC. The exchanges will be available at the US Mint sales counter located at Union Station and the first floor of the US Mint’s headquarters at 801 9th Street NW.

I haven’t seen as much excitement from collectors about the upcoming ceremony as some of the previous ceremonies for the 2009 Lincoln Cent designs. After the first ceremony in Hodgenville, Kentucky proved to be an incredible boon for attendees who were able to obtain rolls at the coin exchange, the second and third ceremonies had much more buzz and higher attendance. The second ceremony was even called “Numismatic Woodstock” as approximately 3,000 people traveled to Lincoln City, Indiana for the ceremony and exchange.

By the fourth ceremony held in Washington, DC, attendance had declined to just a few hundred people. This may have been partially due to the weather and the fact that the coin exchanges were available at other DC locations, held indoors.

It will be interesting to see how many people attend the upcoming 2010 Lincoln Cent launch ceremony. I think some of the anticipation has been lost due to the fact that 2010 Lincoln Cents have been in the hands of some collectors for nearly one month. As early as January 12, 2010, some examples of the first 2010 Lincoln Cents started appearing in Puerto Rico and quickly found their way to eBay, where collectors throughout the United States could acquire them, albeit at a premium.

The United States Mint is yet to announce any products which specifically highlight the 2010 Lincoln Cent, although it seems likely that something is in the works. For the 2009 Lincoln Cents, the US Mint had offered Two Roll Sets, a separate Lincoln Proof Set, and the Lincoln Coin and Chronicles Set.

If any readers do plan to attend the ceremony on February 11 and would like to provide photos or a report of the ceremony, please contact me.

Mintage Numbers Collapse
January 19, 2010

By Dave

Is this the year the Mint suspends the coinage of some denominations completely?

That is a question that needs to be asked in light of the collapse of production in 2009.

Overall production dropped by 65 percent last year, or 6,593,580,000 pieces from the 2008 level of 10,141,580,000.

The 3,548,000,000 total mintage from 2009 wouldn’t even be a reasonable number for cents from one facility alone in a normal year.

Collectors who grew up wondering things like why were no half dollars produced in the years 1930, 1931 and 1932, or no quarters in 1931 and 1933, now are seeing a replay of how a weak economy causes a rapid drop in the demand for coinage.

Economic statistics showed that retail sales dropped 6.5 percent last year, something not seen since the Depression.

Fewer transactions mean less demand for coins.

Throw in desperate people raiding every coin container they ever possessed just to try to keep food on the table and the combination adds up to a drastic fall in coin demand.

In 2009 the Mint tried to manage the production reductions at an even pace. Except for dimes, the Mint was remarkably able to divide what work there was evenly between the Philadelphia and Denver Mints.

The only high level of demand occurred for gold and silver coinage. Demand for those coins reflect fear of inflation and/or the unknown by buyers.

This, too, has a parallel in the high mintages of gold $10s and $20s during the Depression before President Roosevelt banned gold ownership in 1933.

The 4,463,000 mintage for the gold $10 in 1932, the record for the Saint-Gaudens Indian Head series, was caused by the same type of panicky demand for gold that we are seeing with American Eagles today.

This demand also is reflected to a lesser degree in the mintages of the 1931 and 1932 $20s.

Roosevelt after banning gold ownership to end the panic, devalued the dollar and tried to induce inflation. By this action he proved the hoarder’s fears to be justified, but persistent deflation rather than inflation dogged the economy.

Are we in a period of similar paradox where fear of inflation actually produces deflation?

2010 Cent Reverse to Show a Shield

By Numismatic News November 19, 2009

 

Perhaps overshadowing the release of the fourth Lincoln cent design of 2009 Nov. 12 was the unveiling at the ceremony of the design of the new cent that will be introduced in 2010.

While the obverse will continue to depict Victor David Brenner’s Lincoln portrait, the reverse will depict a Civil War-era shield that is emblematic of the preservation of the Union.

The Mint describes the new reverse as featuring a Union Shield with a scroll draped across it. The shield bears the inscription E PLURIBUS UNUM. The 13 vertical stripes of the shield represent the states joined in one compact Union to support the federal government, represented by the horizontal bar above. In addition, the shield device is featured throughout the halls of the U.S. Capitol Building on frescoes by Constantino Brumidi, the artist of the Capitol during Lincoln’s presidency.

It is a design device used before. It appeared on the 2-cent piece that was struck 1864-1873 and the Shield nickel, which was produced 1866-1883.

The new shield, though, is distinctly different. It is much thinner than that fully rounded shields of the 19th century.

Introduction of the new design will conclude the changes to the cent that have kept collectors both riveted by the new designs and frustrated by the difficulty in finding them in change.

The changes to the cent design were authorized by Congress in 2005.