Most Valuable US Pennies - Highest Value 1 Cent Coins USA Coin Book has compiled a list of the. Rare Wheat Pennies. Side Refine Panel. Shop by Category. Small Cents; Lincoln Wheat (1909-1958) Flying Eagle (1856-58) Indian Head (1859-1909) Lincoln Memorial (1959-2008) Lincoln Bicentennial (2009) Lincoln Shield (2010-Now) Mixed Lots; Certification.

Many people have amazing treasures in their possession and don’t even know it. Antiques handed down from relatives. Paintings hanging on the walls. A stack of old books in the basement. Some of the most incredible collectible items sit undetected for decades as their owners simply don’t consider them having much value. Many times they might not even realize they own them at all. Even among the loose change in your desk drawer, an undiscovered nugget could be hiding. It just might pay off to familiarize yourself with the most valuable wheat pennies.

The facts are that many people have no idea an old penny could have much value. If you find a wheat penny lying around, you might want to take a closer look. You could have a coin worth thousands of dollars right under your nose.

For most pennies, those minted in recent years are worth, well, a penny. Most wheat cents (wheat pennies were minted between 1909 and 1956) are worth about 4 to 5 cents. Those in better condition can have double-digit value. Special examples (especially those in near perfect condition) can be worth much more. A 1952 Lincoln Wheat penny can be worth a little or a lot. Find out the value of your Lincoln Wheat cent and if you have a valuable and rare coin.

Production

The wheat penny was minted in Philadelphia and San Francisco from 1909 to 1956. It’s mostly made from copper, with steel coins minted only during World War II. The design came from Victor David Brenner, who emigrated to New York City from Lithuania. He arrived in New York City with very little except a skill in gem and seal engraving, a trade his father had taught him. Brenner proposed a design for a coin that would later be known as the Lincoln coin or Lincoln cent. It featured Abraham Lincoln on one side and two stalks of wheat on the other. U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt chose the design by Brenner and ordered it to begin production in 1909 to commemorate Lincoln’s 100th birthday.

The coin designed by Brenner turned out to be the longest-running design in United States Mint history. Many historians also believe the Brenner designed wheat penny to be the most reproduced piece of art in world history.

Most Valuable Wheat Pennies

1944 Steel Wheat Penny – $500,000

1943 Copper Wheat Penny – $100,000

1914 D Wheat Penny – $10,000

1922 D Wheat Penny – $6,000

1926 Wheat Penny – $4,000

• 1930 Lincoln Wheat Pennies

Coin Info

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1930 Lincoln Wheat Penny coins are highly common across all three of the mints that produced them that year: Philadelphia, Denver, and San Francisco. Yet, despite the fact that they are highly plentiful in just about every grade from any of the three U.S. Mint locations in operation that year, 1930 Pennies still fall into the “pre-1934” Lincoln Cent category that is typified by one-cent coins with generally lower mintages than their post-1933 counterparts; more importantly a great deal of pre-1934 Lincoln Pennies weren’t saved in massive quantities, so finding high-end specimens can be an especially daunting task.

Most Valuable Wheat Pennies 1935

Mintage numbers are definitely high enough to suggest that no variety of this coin is a rare specimen. In fact, 157,415,000 Lincoln Pennies were minted at the Philadelphia Mint. 1930-D (Denver Mint) and 1930-S (San Francisco Mint) Lincoln Cents originally numbered 40,100,000 and 24,286,000, respectively.

1930 Lincoln Wheat Penny coins are particularly inexpensive in the lower grades, costing from between 10 cents and 25 cents in Good-4. Even in Mint State 63 on the Sheldon Coin Grading Scale, a 1930, 1930-D, and 1930-S are reasonably priced. $15 will buy an MS-63 specimen of the 1930, while $20 will purchase a 1930-S in that same grade and $30 will be enough to snag a 1930-D in brilliant uncirculated. If you need to pay a few bucks more to acquire any of these in “red,” do so, as you will not be disappointed.

7 Rare Wheat Pennies Worth Collecting & What They're Worth

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Most Valuable Wheat Pennies List