The Lincoln cent showed up in 1909 to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln’s birth. It was the first regular U.S. coin featuring a real human, and not Lady Liberty.
Sculptor Victor David Brenner designed both sides: Lincoln’s portrait on the front and the wheat stalk reverse, which lasted until 1958, when the Lincoln Memorial design took over. Almost every wheat penny is 95% copper; the exception is 1943, when the mint struck 1943 steel pennies.
During these fifty years, many penny varieties came out in different years from different mints. A handful of them were made in small numbers or struck by mistake.
So which wheat pennies are worth money? Most aren’t: a common, worn wheat penny is worth only about 5 to 20 cents. The most valuable wheat pennies are the scarce key dates, doubled dies, and off-metal errors shown below, which have sold for over $6,000 on eBay.
What Makes a Wheat Penny Valuable?
Before we get into the list, here’s what actually drives the price of a Lincoln penny.
Key Dates and Mint Marks
The mint mark sits below the date on the front. No letter means Philadelphia, “D” is Denver, and “S” is San Francisco. Some years and mint combos had tiny mintages.
Those are the key dates collectors check first: the 1909-S VDB, 1909-S, 1914-D, 1931-S, and the 1922 “No D”, with the 1911-S and 1926-S among the better-known semi-key dates.
Mint Errors and Varieties
Beyond the specific dates and mint marks above, some errors can show up on almost any wheat cent and make it worth more than face value. Below are the key wheat penny errors to look for in any year:
- Doubled die obverse or reverse. Real doubling shows raised, separated lettering, not flat shelf-like marks.
- Off-center strikes. The bigger the miss, the better, but the full date has to stay visible.
- Repunched mint marks (RPMs). Look for a shadow of the mint mark punched twice in slightly different spots.
- Die breaks and cuds. Raised blobs of metal where the die cracked and left extra material on the coin.
- Wrong planchet errors. Coins struck on the wrong metal blank, like a 1943 struck on bronze.
Condition
Condition is crucial for value. A crisp red uncirculated coin can be worth ten or twenty times a worn brown example of the same date. For coins, condition is professionally assessed on a grade scale.
Color: Red, Red-Brown or Brown
Color matters a lot for Lincoln pennies. For uncirculated coins, collectors label them Red (RD), Red-Brown (RB), or Brown (BN). Red pennies are usually the uncirculated ones and are worth the most.
15 Most Valuable Wheat Pennies to Look For
1. 1944 Steel Lincoln Wheat Penny
- Estimated Value: $20,000 to $375,000+
- What to Check: 1944 date, silver color, sticks to a magnet
- Quick Notes: Weighs 2.7g, do the magnet test.
This is like the reverse of the 1943 copper mistake. By 1944, the mint went back to copper, but a few steel planchets left over from 1943 got struck with 1944 dies. The result is a silvery 1944 penny that looks totally out of place among copper cents.
Only about three dozen genuine examples are believed to exist across all three mints, and the 1944-S is the rarest; PCGS documents only two known.
A magnet only proves the coin is steel. Every ordinary 1943 cent sticks too, so the date is the real test. Some fakes are 1943 steel cents with the last digit altered to a 4, so have any 1944 steel cent authenticated by PCGS or NGC.
2. 1943-D/D Lincoln Wheat Steel Penny
- Estimated Value: $70 to $21,000+
- What to Check: Ghost “D” below and left of main D
- Quick Notes: Magnetic, weighs 2.7g, FS-501
Back in 1943, mint marks were still punched into each working die by hand. On this one, the Denver worker missed and struck the “D” twice. So you get a clear ghost “D” sitting just below and to the left of the main mint mark (FS-501).
Use a 10x loupe to check for real serif shapes on the ghost D. Machine doubling looks flat and shelf-like, but a true RPM shows rounded, raised secondary letters.
This variety is scarce in all grades, so values remain high. The ANACS coin pictured above is listed as RPM-7, a different repunched D that sits directly below the main D.
3. 1909-S VDB Lincoln Wheat Penny
- Estimated Value: $700 to $150,000+
- What to Check: “S” mint mark, “VDB” on reverse
- Quick Facts: Only 484,000 minted
The 1909-S VDB is the most famous key date among the wheat cents. Only 484,000 were made in San Francisco before public complaints about designer Brenner’s prominent initials forced the mint to remove them from the reverse.
Flip the coin over and look at the bottom rim between the wheat stalks. If you see “V.D.B.” and an “S” under the date on the front, it’s this rare coin.
4. 1909-S Lincoln Wheat Penny (No VDB)
- Estimated Value: $150 to $10,000+
- What to Check: “S” under date, no VDB initials
- Quick Facts: 1,825,000 mintage
After the mint pulled the VDB initials off the reverse mid-year, San Francisco kept striking 1909 cents without them. A total of 1,825,000 no-VDB pennies were made, which may sound like a lot, but really isn’t for a Lincoln cent.
Identification is simple: the bottom of the reverse is smooth with no letters between the wheat stalks. Due to its low mintage, this coin is also worth a lot in high grades.
5. 1914-D Lincoln Wheat Penny
- Estimated Value: $200 to $150,000+
- What to Check: “D” mint mark under date
- Quick Facts: Only 1,193,000 struck
The 1914-D is the second big key date in the series. This one, in high grades, is harder to find than the 1909-S VDB. Denver struck just 1,193,000 of them, and most got used up in circulation before people realized they were worth saving.
That “D” under the date is what you should look for. Fakes are made by adding a “D” to a regular 1914 Philadelphia penny, so always get it authenticated by PCGS or NGC. The NGC MS65 Red coin shown above was listed at $17,325.
6. 1922 No D Strong Reverse Wheat Penny
- Estimated Value: $600 to $92,000+
- What to Check: No mint mark, sharp reverse
- Interesting Facts: Only Denver made 1922 cents
In 1922, only the Denver Mint made pennies. So every 1922 penny should have a “D.” But a die clash and heavy grinding at Denver erased the mint mark off some dies, creating a 1922 penny with no mint mark at all.
The trick is telling the valuable “Strong Reverse” version apart from the less valuable “Weak Reverse” variety. Both lack the D, but the Strong Reverse shows sharp, crisp wheat stalks on the back.
7. 1955 Doubled Die Obverse Wheat Penny
- Estimated Value: $1,000 to $125,000+
- What to Check: Doubling on date and letters
- Quick Facts: Doubling is visible without magnification.
The 1955 DDO is the most famous doubled die in all of U.S. coinage. Around 24,000 escaped from the Philadelphia mint into circulation, mostly in change given out with packs of cigarettes in Massachusetts and New York.
The Double Die effect is so prominent that you do not even need a magnifier. The date “1955,” plus “LIBERTY” and “IN GOD WE TRUST,” all show clear, wide doubling.
Still, pay close attention, as machine doubling may look similar, but it isn’t worth anything.
8. 1958 Doubled Die Obverse Wheat Penny
- Estimated Value: $200,000 to $1,100,000+
- What to Check: Bold doubling on “LIBERTY” and motto
- Interesting Fact: Only three known examples
This is easily one of the rarest Wheat pennies since only three genuine examples exist. In January 2023, the finest one sold at GreatCollections for $1,136,250 (graded PCGS MS65 Red), which the auction house called the first Lincoln cent to sell at auction for over $1 million, as reported by Coin World.
The doubling on this coin is also quite dramatic, with sharp, obvious separation on “LIBERTY,” on “IN GOD WE TRUST,” and on the “1958” date itself. So if you spot one, get it authenticated fast.
An ordinary 1958 or 1958-D wheat penny is worth only a few cents worn, and a little more uncirculated.
9. 1917 Doubled Die Obverse Wheat Penny
- Estimated Value: $150 to $120,000+
- What to Check: Doubling in date and motto
- Quick Notes: Only about 200 examples known
The 1917 DDO is one of the oldest major doubled dies in the series, and only around 200 are believed to exist across all grades. It’s rarer than the famous 1955 DDO, but way less famous.
The doubling shows up most clearly on the date and on “IN GOD WE TRUST” up top. Look at the “9” and “7” in the date first. Those two digits show the strongest doubling and are the easiest way to confirm a real one.
10. 1931-S Lincoln Wheat Penny
- Estimated Value: $80 to $38,000+
- What to Check: “S” mint mark, Depression era
- Quick Notes: 866,000 mintage, second lowest
The 1931-S is a Great Depression coin, struck when nobody had extra pennies to spend, so the mint only made 866,000 of them. That’s the second-lowest regular-issue mintage in the entire wheat cent series.
Collectors hoarded them, so many examples survive in nice condition. But watch out for altered 1930-S or 1931 Philadelphia coins with added mint marks.
11. 1936 Doubled Die Obverse Wheat Penny
- Estimated Value: $150 to $34,000+
- What to Check: Doubling on “LIBERTY,” date, motto
- Quick Notes: Three DDO types exist (FS-101 best)
The 1936 DDO is not much talked about, but it’s actually rarer than the 1955 doubled die. Firstly, three DDO types exist for this particular cent, and all three are worth money in nice grades.
Fewer than 300 Type 1 examples are believed to exist; the Type 1 (FS-101) shows the boldest doubling on “LIBERTY,” “IN GOD WE TRUST,” and the date.
You might need a 5x or 10x loupe to pick it out on lower-grade coins. Type 2 and Type 3 varieties also exist with weaker doubling in different spots. The NGC MS66 Red coin shown here is an FS-103, one of the weaker types, and it sold for $1,650.
12. 1944-D/S Overmintmark Wheat Penny
- Estimated Value: $50 to $50,000+
- What to Check: “S” traces under the “D” mark
- Quick Notes: Two varieties, FS-511 and FS-512
These coins were made when the working dies with San Francisco “S” mint marks were sent to Denver. The workers punched the “D” mark on them without fully removing the “S” first.
So under 10x magnification, you can spot curved bits of the old “S” sticking out around the “D.”
There are two key varieties to know: The FS-511 variety shows the top curve of the “S” poking out above the “D.” FS-512 shows fainter traces of the “S” on either side of the D’s upright stroke. Both are true overmintmarks and sell well in high grades.
13. 1926-S Lincoln Wheat Penny
- Estimated Value: $15 to $150,000
- What to Check: “S” mint mark, strong strikes
- Quick Notes: Extremely rare in Red MS-65
The 1926-S is not as rare, since the mintage was 4.5 million, so circulated examples are pretty affordable. But it’s a classic “condition rarity.” Finding one in Mint State Red condition is nearly impossible.
One PCGS MS-65 Red example sold for $149,500 at auction in the mid-2000s, a record for an ordinary Lincoln cent and exceptional for a coin that’s cheap in worn grades.
The uncertified red coin pictured above sold for $4,106, a good price, but far from what a certified MS-65 Red brings. So condition and color really are everything with this date.
14. 1911-S Lincoln Wheat Penny
- Estimated Value: $28 to $2,000+
- What to Check: “S” mint mark under date
- Quick Notes: Only 4,026,000 minted, semi-key
The 1911-S is a semi-key date that a lot of new collectors overlook. San Francisco struck only 4,026,000, and most were heavily used during the 1910s and 1920s, so nice examples are genuinely scarce.
Check for that “S” below the date, and pay attention to the sharpness of Lincoln’s hair and beard details for grading. Worn grade examples aren’t worth much, but a clean Mint State example can bring $1,000 or more: the PCGS MS65 Red-Brown coin above sold for $1,190.
15. 1943-S Wheat Penny Struck on a Silver Dime Planchet
- Estimated Value: $2,000 to $9,000+
- What to Check: Slightly smaller diameter, soft rim details
- Quick Notes: 90% silver planchet, weighs ~2.5g
A 1943-S wheat cent got struck on a silver dime blank instead of the usual zinc-coated steel planchet. So the coin looks almost normal at first glance, since 1943 steel cents already have that silver-gray color from the zinc coating.
The softness on the rims and around Lincoln’s shoulder is a simple giveaway. The dime planchet is slightly smaller than a cent blank, so parts of the border strike weakly.
The NGC MS61 coin here was listed at $9,095 (sold via best offer), so it changed hands for less.
If your date isn’t on this list, our date guides cover common years too, like the 1920 wheat penny and the 1941 wheat penny. Most 1941 cents, for example, are worth a nickel to a couple of dollars, while errors and Gem Mint coins sell for much more.
Wheat pennies are one of the most accessible coins. They still turn up in coin jars, old bank rolls, and shoeboxes at estate sales. Whatever you find, don’t clean it immediately: cleaning leaves fine scratches and an unnatural color that graders mark down.
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