1993 Penny Value Guide
Do you have a 1993 penny?
Do you know if it’s worth more than face value or not?
I’m going to help you find out!
Plus, I’ve got a list of valuable 1993 penny errors that you can find in circulation these days.
Let’s start with determining the value of your 1993 Lincoln cent…
How Much Is A 1993 Penny Worth Today?
There are plenty of rare and valuable 1993 pennies out there — you just need to know what to look for.
Here’s how you can tell a rare 1993 penny worth money from one that you can safely spend…
1993 Penny Value (no mintmark)
The 1993 Lincoln penny from the Philadelphia Mint has no letter (mintmark) under the date. So if you come across a 1993 penny with no mintmark, this is a totally normal coin.
The Philly Mint struck 5,684,705,000 pennies in 1993 — and these are all very common coins to this day. Most circulated specimens (the kind you’ll find in your pocket change or penny jar) are worth face value and are safe to spend as money.
While the typical no-mintmark 1993 penny you find in circulation really isn’t worth saving, there are plenty of 1993 pennies with no mintmark that are:
- Uncirculated 1993 pennies (these have never been used as money and look brand new) are usually worth 10 to 30 cents.
- The all-time record for the most valuable 1993 penny without a mintmark was set in February 2022 by an example graded by Professional Coin Grading Service as MS69RD that sold for $3,375.
1993-D Penny Value (“D” mintmark)
The 1993-D Lincoln penny was struck at the Denver Mint in Colorado and has a little “D” mintmark under the date. This, too, is a fairly common coin. There were 6,426,650,571 1993-D pennies struck, and many are still in circulation today.
You’re bound to find 1993-D pennies floating around in your pocket change. And you’re likely to have some in your coin jar, as well.
As you may have guessed… since the 1993-D penny is so common, worn examples are worth face value and are therefore safe to spend.
But this doesn’t mean all 1993-D pennies are worth only a penny. Here are the exceptions:
- Uncirculated examples are worth 10 to 30 cents.
- The most valuable 1993-D penny ever sold was graded MS69RD by Professional Coin Grading Service and sold for $4,600 in a June 2010 auction.
1993-S Penny Value (“S” mintmark)
The United States Mint produces special, lower-mintage coins known as proofs. These are designed just for coin collectors.
Proof coins are struck twice on high-tonnage coin presses by specially prepared dies and are made with highly reflective polished blanks. This process produces a coin of fantastic quality — with mirror-like surfaces, frosted designs and lettering, and showing exquisite clarity in even the most minute of details.
The San Francisco Mint produced 3,394,792 proof pennies in 1993. These 1993-S proof pennies were sold by the U.S. Mint in proof sets. These coins can still be bought today at coin shops.
- You’ll find coin dealers selling typical 1993-S proof pennies for between $2 and $5 each.
- One of the highest prices paid for a 1993-S penny was $135. That specimen was graded by Professional Coin Grading Service as PR70DCAM.
IMPORTANT: What Is The Grade Of Your 1993 Penny?
To determine the true value of your 1993 Lincoln cent, you first need to know what condition (or grade) your coin is in.
Grab a coin magnifier and a copy of the U.S. Coin Grading Standards book. Then, watch this video to see how to grade coins yourself at home:
These coin grading apps make grading coins yourself much easier.
Rare 1993 Penny Errors And Their Values
Many of the pennies that rolled off the U.S. Mint presses in 1993 weren’t made perfectly…
Some contain errors or varieties that can be worth a lot of money — and the ones listed below can actually be found in your pocket change.
Here’s a rundown on some of these rare and valuable 1993 error pennies and what they’re worth:
1993 Doubled Die Penny Error
The doubled die error pennies are among the most popular varieties around, perhaps because these odd-looking coins are so different from all the other errors. Many doubled die pennies are valuable, too — some sell for hundreds or even thousands of dollars!
So, how much is a 1993 doubled die penny worth?
It all depends… You see, most of the known 1993 doubled die pennies aren’t worth a whole lot because they contain very minor signs of doubling and are often only detected through the use of a coin magnifying glass.
Therefore, demand for these more obscure doubled die pennies isn’t as strong as often is the case for the more drastic doubled dies.
Even still, many 1993 doubled die pennies are worth between $20 and $50 — depending on the magnitude of the doubling and condition of the coin.
1993 Off-Center Penny Error
Here’s a weird error… The off-center penny.
Off-center pennies were struck in such a way that the coins were only partially centered between the dies (which impart the design onto the coin). This is usually caused by either the blank itself not being deposited squarely between the dies or the dies being misaligned.
Most 1993 off-center pennies are less than 3% to 5% off, and these aren’t really worth anything over face value because they’re so common.
But if you find a 1993 penny that’s 5% to 10% or more off-center, you may just have something…
- A 1993 penny error that’s off-center by around 10% to 25% can be worth $15 to $30.
- The most valuable type of 1993 off-center error has about 50% of its design missing but still reveals a full date and, if applicable, mintmark. Such a 1993 off-center error is worth $50 to $100 or more!
1993 BIE Penny Error
The BIE penny refers to a Lincoln cent with a unique type of die break in which a small, vertical crack in the die formed between the “B” and “E” of “LIBERTY.” That little die break looks something like a capital letter “I” and therefore it inspired the nickname “BIE.”
The BIE errors aren’t necessarily rare, but they are pretty popular with coin collectors — and most especially Lincoln penny enthusiasts. Some will even go so far as to build entire sets of BIE pennies year by year!
1993 BIE pennies aren’t easy to find, but they’re out there.
The value of 1993 BIE pennies depends on a few things — including the size and shaping of the die crack between the “B” and “E,” condition of the coin, etc. But when 1993 BIE pennies are offered for sale, they tend to command prices of between $3 and $10.
Values are usually the same for the 1993 BIE pennies and 1993-D BIE pennies — because the variety is equally likely to occur on either coin.
READ NEXT: A List Of The Most Valuable U.S. Pennies
I’m the Coin Editor here at TheFunTimesGuide. My love for coins began when I was 11 years old. I primarily collect and study U.S. coins produced during the 20th century.
I’m a member of the American Numismatic Association (ANA) and the Numismatic Literary Guild (NLG) and have won multiple awards from the NLG for my work as a coin journalist. I’m also the editor at the Florida United Numismatists Club (FUN Topics magazine), and author of Images of America: The United States Mint in Philadelphia (a book that explores the colorful history of the Philadelphia Mint). I’ve contributed hundreds of articles for various coin publications including COINage, The Numismatist, Numismatic News, Coin Dealer Newsletter, Coin Values, and CoinWeek.
I’ve authored nearly 1,000 articles here at The Fun Times Guide to Coins (many of them with over 50K shares), and I welcome your coin questions in the comments below!
