Wheat penny value
Most wheat pennies (1909–1958) are worth a few cents each. A handful of key dates and errors, such as the 1909-S VDB, 1914-D and 1955 Doubled Die, are worth hundreds or more, so check dates and mint marks before selling a jar.
Reviewed October 15, 2026
Key facts
| Years minted | 1909–1958 |
|---|---|
| Composition | Mostly bronze; 1943 cents are zinc-coated steel |
| Mint mark location | Under the date: none (Philadelphia), D (Denver), S (San Francisco) |
| Designer initials | VDB on the back, at the bottom, on some 1909 cents |
How to identify yours
- Read the date and the mint mark letter beneath it.
- For 1909 cents, look for the letters VDB at the bottom of the reverse.
- For 1955 cents, look for strong doubling in the date and lettering on the front.
- For 1922 cents, check whether the D mint mark is missing.
Which ones are worth more
- 1909-S VDB
- The best-known key date, with a small mintage.
- 1914-D and 1931-S
- Low-mintage dates collectors need to complete sets.
- 1922 No D
- Denver cents struck without a visible mint mark.
- 1955 Doubled Die Obverse
- Bold doubling visible without magnification.
- 1943 bronze and 1944 steel
- Wrong-metal errors; extremely rare and widely faked.
What most are worth
Circulated common-date wheat cents sell for a few cents each, often in bulk rolls. Uncirculated coins with red color sell for more.
Tips before you sell
- Sort by date and mint mark before selling in bulk.
- Set aside any key dates or possible errors and have them checked.
- Do not clean coins; it destroys collector value.
Why so many of these exist
The Lincoln wheat cent was struck from 1909 until 1958, which is half a century of continuous production at a denomination people spent without thinking. Billions were made. They turn up in every jar of old coins in the country, and the sheer number of them is the reason the honest answer for most of them is a few cents each at most.
The design itself was a departure: it was the first regular United States coin to carry the portrait of a real person, introduced for the centenary of Lincoln's birth. The reverse, with its two ears of wheat flanking the denomination, gave the series its collector name and ran unchanged until it was replaced by the Lincoln Memorial design.
Within those fifty years there are a small number of genuinely scarce issues, and they are scarce for specific reasons: a first-year San Francisco issue with the designer's initials that was quickly withdrawn, a low-mintage date from a single mint, a wartime year when the metal composition changed, and a handful of catalogued doubled dies. Everything else is common, and common in this series means very common indeed.
What condition means here
- Well worn
- Date readable, Lincoln's features flattened, wheat ears soft. For ordinary dates this is a coin worth a few cents and sold by the roll or the pound.
- Average circulated
- Clear date and mint mark, some detail in the hair and wheat. Still bulk for common dates, but this is the grade in which the key dates are usually found and in which they are still worth real money.
- Lightly worn with original colour
- Brown or red-brown surfaces with no corrosion and sharp wheat lines. Colour matters in this series: original red surfaces carry a strong premium over brown ones at the same level of wear.
- Uncirculated red
- Full original mint red with no wear. Copper tones down over time, so a genuinely red uncirculated wheat cent is scarcer than an uncirculated one in brown, and the market prices the colour explicitly.
Traps specific to this one
Every well-known collectable attracts its own fakes and its own misunderstandings. These are the ones that come up again and again with this item.
- Added or altered mint marks
- The scarce issues are defined by their mint marks, which makes them a standing target for alteration. A mint mark that looks soft, tilted or raised above the field needs expert examination.
- Machine doubling mistaken for a doubled die
- Flat, shelf-like doubling from a loose die is extremely common and worth nothing. A true doubled die shows rounded, separated doubling on the lettering and is a catalogued variety.
- Cleaning copper
- Copper reacts visibly to cleaning and the result is an unnatural orange or pink tone that never settles. Cleaned wheat cents are rejected by collectors outright.
- Assuming the oldest are the best
- Many early dates were struck in large numbers and are worth little, while some later dates are scarcer. Mintage, not year, determines which is which.
How to read the sold listings
Search sold listings by the exact date and mint mark together, never by the series, because the spread within the series is enormous and an average price for wheat cents is meaningless. Separate graded sales from raw ones: a certified example answers the authenticity question that hangs over every key date, so it sells for more than a raw coin that looks the same in a photograph. Discard any listing where the mint mark cannot be seen clearly in the images.
Estimate yours from a photo
Upload your own coin for an estimate based on what the photos show.
Example estimate
Polaroid SX-70 Land Camera
$190
Usually sells for $120 – $320
Your result appears here.
Common questions
Is a 1943 penny valuable?
Most 1943 cents are steel and common. A genuine 1943 bronze cent is a great rarity, and many are fakes or plated coins.
What does VDB mean?
The initials of designer Victor David Brenner, removed from the reverse early in 1909.
Are wheat pennies with no mint mark rare?
No. Philadelphia cents have no mint mark and are usually the most common, except for the 1922 No D error.