Lincoln Wheat Penny Value Chart (Rarest Sold For $408,000)

Got some change in your pocket? Check the pennies! This Lincoln penny value chart will quickly tell you if you’re holding on to a fortune. Whether you have a super rare penny, worth tens of thousands, or just an old penny (which is still worth 10x the face value) you should hold onto it until you can get it valued.

This guide will take you through the old and new Lincoln penny designs and explain what makes a coin rare. All our prices are up to date at the time of writing, but as the market shifts and base metal prices change too, the value of your penny will fluctuate. Always do your own research before buying and selling antiques!

Let’s dig in.

Lincoln Penny Quick Facts

New to coin collecting? Here’s what you need to know:

• The Lincoln penny features Lincoln on the heads side,
• It was printed in several designs – wheat from 1909 to 1958, memorial from 1959 to 2008, and a few new designs since then,
• Coins were minted at Philadelphia, Denver (D) or San Francisco (S),
• Most good condition wheat coins are worth less than $0.20, unless you have an early or rare coin which may sell for a few hundred dollars,
• Double mint marks are the most common flaw and can increase the coin value by tens of thousands!
• The most valuable Lincoln wheat coin is the 1944 San Francisco steel Lincoln penny which sold at auction for a record $408,000,
• If you have the modern Lincoln pennies, including the bi-centennial celebration coins, make sure you hold onto them. They may increase in value even though their current price is quite low.

How to Navigate this Chart

We have split our charts into smaller segments, so you can better find your coin in our list:

• Standard wheat Lincoln pennies
• Rare/error wheat Lincoln pennies
• Standard memorial Lincoln pennies
• Rare/error memorial Lincoln pennies
• Proof coins

Wheat Reverse Lincoln Penny Value Chart

This chart covers standard Lincoln pennies per year. The wheat Lincoln penny (the coin has wheat stalks on the reverse) was minted from 1909 to 1958.

Check this chart for values of the most common Lincoln pennies in this era. This covers all the standard mint designs, with no errors or flukes. The lowest value is for a good condition coin while the highest values are accurate for uncirculated quality.

For a list of rarer coins from this year, check the chart below.

All prices are sourced from JM Bullion and are accurate as of October 2022.

Rare Wheat Reverse Lincoln Pennies

These pennies are limited edition or were miss-minted in some way. For help understanding how to identify them, find our guide below.

For these coins, we’ve listed the auction record to show you how a mint condition rare coin can sell for an incredible amount! All prices are sourced from PCGS and are accurate as of October 2022.

S/S, D/D, S/D, etc.

The most common Lincoln pennies that fall into the error category are “S/S” or “D/D” which means that the mint mark is stamped twice, creating a shadow-like effect. You can also find S/D and S/S/S for example, where the coin has been stamped multiple times.

VDB

You can also find Lincoln pennies stamped with “VDB” which are the initials of Victor D. Brenner, the designer of the coin. This is located just below the wheat stalks. This only occurred in the first year of minting, 1909.

Doubled Die Obverse

Rather than just the mint mark being struck twice, the entire coin design on the obverse has been struck off-center. This creates a shadow-like effect over the entire face of the coin. Sometimes it can be quite subtle!Steel

During the second world war, copper was needed for the war effort and so steel was used for a short period to create pennies. This is what created the infamous Lincoln steel penny in 1944.

Also Read:

• 1974 Lincoln Penny Value (History, Photos, And Comprehensive Price Guide)
• 1921 Penny Value (The Finest-known 1921 Lincoln Penny Sold At $36,000 In 2019)
• 1945 Penny Value Chart (One Of The Rarest 1945 Penny Sales Was Made In 2015 For $4, 465)
• 1923 Penny Value Chart: How Much Is A 1923 Penny Worth Today?
• Rare Penny Worth Money (Most Valuable Sold For $840,000)

Memorial Reverse Lincoln Penny Value Chart

Just like with the wheat pennies, we’ve organized these coins by year and mint mark to give you an average low and high price. However, the memorial coin has been minted in various materials, sometimes within the same year, so we’ve also added a material column to help differentiate between coins.

All prices are sourced from SpruceCrafts and are accurate as of October 2022.

Lincoln Bi-Centennial Penny Value Chart

In 2009, the US Mint released a series of coins with different tails (instead of the standard memorial visual) to celebrate the 200-year anniversary of Lincoln’s birth.

As these coins are so recent, they have little value at the moment. Hold onto them and they may be valuable for future generations! Prices from SpruceCrafts.

The shield design was released in 2010 and runs up to the present day. Just like the bi-centennial coins, these are too modern to have a very high value unless you have a proof coin (see below) or an undiscovered error coin.

Prices from SpruceCrafts.

Rare Modern Lincoln Penny Value Chart

Mistakes happen and they can be very lucrative for collectors! Keep an eye out for one of these valuable error coins.

Just like the modern proof coins (see below) there are so many of these coins to list. So, we’ve chosen some of the most valuable and most common error coins for our table below. If you want to find the full list of Lincoln penny error coins, head to our source: prices accurate as of October 2022 and sourced from PCGS.

Also Read: How Much Is A 1972 Lincoln Penny Worth? (1972 Double Die Penny Value Chart)

Lincoln Proof Pennies

Proof coins (PR) are struck especially for collectors and are usually made of higher quality materials and struck with greater care. As a result, many of these coins have been maintained in uncirculated condition and are worth a lot of money!

Wheat Lincoln Proof Pennies

Prices are accurate as of October 2022 and are sourced from PCGS.

Modern Lincoln Proof Pennies

For the modern Lincoln proof pennies, minted after 1958, you can find proofs in several designs. In fact, there are a lot of proof coins to find.

The five of the most valuable modern Lincoln penny proof coins are:

• 1971 Memorial Reverse – S – Copper – $17,250
• 1970 Memorial Reverse – S – Small Date – Copper – $18,400
• 1990 Memorial Reverse – Zinc – No Mint Mark – $20,700
• 1959 Memorial Reverse – Copper – $20,700
• 1963 Memorial Reverse – Copper – $40,250

To find the full list of modern Lincoln proof coins, check out PCGS.

FAQs

What is the 2009 Lincoln penny value?

The pennies minted in 2009 (the bi-centennial designs) are worth about $0.05 to sell. If you have one or the entire set, it’s best to keep hold of them for now.

What is the Lincoln Kennedy penny value?

The value of this unique coin, minted with both Lincoln and Kennedy’s faces, is not worth much at all. You may find a collector that will pay a few dollars for it, but most serious coin collectors don’t consider it to be valuable.

What is the kissing Lincoln penny value?

This is an inverted double struck penny from 1917… from the Simpsons! This coin was never struck in reality, so trying to find one is a wild goose chase.

What is the value of a Lincoln smoking a pipe penny?

This penny is worthless, as the pipe was added by a third-party rather than the US mint. This pretty much invalidates the coin… however most shop owners probably won’t even notice if you use the penny to buy something.

How much is the Lincoln log cabin worth?

The “log cabin” Lincoln penny is formally known as the 2009 Birth & Childhood penny, from the Bi-Centennial release. It depicts the birthplace of Lincoln, over 200 years ago. The current value for this modern penny is $0.05 if you have it uncirculated condition – this price should rise over the next hundred years or so.

Sharing is caring!