See How Much 1974 Pennies Are Worth Today (…Including The 1974 Silver Penny!)

What’s the current 1974 penny value?

What about the value of a 1974 silver penny?

As you can see below, all uncirulated 1974 pennies are worth between 20 cents (for the majority of them) to more than $200,000 (for the harder-to-find ones).

The good news for every single one of us who has a worn 1974 penny from circulation is they’re all worth at least 2 cents — double face value isn’t bad at all.

Oh, and those 1974 silver pennies?

Well, they’re not actually made from silver. If you’ve got one, it’s a 1974 aluminum penny and it’s got quite a story — including the fact that all 1974 aluminum pennies are illegal to own!

Here’s everything you want to know about your 1974 pennies and how much they’re worth today…

1974 Penny Facts

The 1974 Lincoln Memorial cent is a generally common coin. You’re sure to find many 1974 pennies in your pocket change.

All 1974 pennies are part of the Lincoln Memorial penny series.

Lincoln Memorial pennies were made from 1959 through 2008 — and until 1982, they were made from a 95% copper composition.

That means 1974 pennies are made from copper, and due to the rising price of this valuable metal every 1974 penny is worth about 2 cents.

While 1974 pennies aren’t as valuable as silver coins, they should be saved for the same reason — because the metal alone is worth more than the coin’s face value!

What’s the catch?

It’s presently illegal to melt pennies for their intrinsic copper value. However, some coin experts believe that law will change if and when the United States stops issuing one-cent coins.

In the meantime, many coin collectors and thousands of hoarders are already saving all pre-1982 copper pennies. Many of these coins are even trading between collectors and coin dealers for 2 to 3 cents each.

Here’s where it gets interesting…

While 99% of 1974 pennies were made from a copper-based alloy, there were more than 1 million 1974 aluminum pennies that were struck as trials!

Read on for more about 1974 aluminum pennies — or, as some call them, 1974 silver pennies.

All About The 1974 Silver Penny

Let’s talk about the so-called 1974 silver penny.

You’ve probably heard about 1974 silver pennies from family, friends, or other coin collectors. Some people use the term “silver penny” rather freely — perhaps suggesting that Mint officials purposefully made rare silver pennies.

While there are some off-metal error coins involving silver dime planchets that found their way into the Lincoln cent presses (these errors are worth more than $100 each), there were no 1974 silver pennies ever intentionally made by the U.S. Mint.

Rather, the Mint struck aluminum cents in 1974 — as test coins.

Why did the Mint bother making 1974 aluminum pennies?

They were designed to help reduce the cost of striking copper pennies, due to the rising cost of copper. In the early 1970s, the cost of copper had risen from about 50 cents per pound to nearly $1.

That meant that the melt value of the copper in a typical Lincoln penny was worth nearly as much as the face value of the coin!

It also meant the cost of making a Lincoln cent was nearing actual the face value. This is still true today — it costs about 1.5 cents to strike each penny, representing a loss to taxpayers with every 1-cent coin made.

The U.S. Mint began experimenting with different materials to help reduce the cost of making pennies. Eventually, aluminum was chosen by government officials as the solution, and the Mint struck more than 1 million 1974 aluminum pennies to test the new coin.

However, some pediatricians were concerned that swallowed aluminum pennies wouldn’t show up in x-rays.

Also, folks from the vending machine industry protested the cost of updating their equipment to receive aluminum pennies (because in 1974 some vending machines still accepted pennies).

The controversy was solved when copper prices fell, taking pressure off the Mint to replace the copper-based alloy in the penny.

The 1974 aluminum penny was immediately recalled for melting, and more than 1 million pieces were destroyed — including hundreds given to members of Congress and other officials. But not all of the coins were returned, and there is an untold (small) number of unaccounted 1974 aluminum pennies still out there today!

Every now and then one turns up, such as was the case of the 1974-D aluminum penny found by the son of a former Mint employee.

There was actually a 1974-D aluminum penny that was confiscated by the government — before it was sold at auction. Some experts believe if the coin had sold at auction, it would’ve fetched more than $200,000.

Of course, we’ll never know the real value of these rare pennies unless the 1974 aluminum penny becomes legal for private ownership.

If you have a 1974 silver penny — or one that appears to be made from silver — the first thing you need to do is check its weight:

• A 1974 aluminum penny weighs about 0.93 grams.
• If your silver-colored 1974 penny weighs 3.11 grams (or more), then you have a regular copper penny with some type of silvery metal plating. These are common and are simply novelty coins that were altered after they left the U.S. Mint.

Wondering which coin sale to use? I use the Weigh Gram scale for weighing coins.

How Much Is A 1974 Penny Worth Today?

Here’s a list to help you determine your 1974 penny value.

This list includes each of the mintmark variations for 1974 pennies:

• 1974 No Mintmark Penny (Philadelphia) — 4,103,183,000 minted, 20 to 25+ cents
• 1974 No Mintmark Penny (West Point, indistinguishable from the Philadelphia 1974 penny) — 128,957,523 minted; 20 to 25+ cents
• 1974-D Penny (Denver) — 4,235,098,000 minted; 20 to 25+ cents
• 1974-S Penny (San Francisco) — 409,426,660 minted; 20 to 25+ cents
• 1974-S Penny (proof) — 2,612,568 minted; $1+
• 1974 aluminum penny (Philadelphia) — unknown mintage of approximately 1.5 million, possibly worth $200,000+
• 1974-D aluminum penny (Denver) — 10 to 12 are estimated to have been minted; possibly worth $200,000+