Learn which VALUABLE PENNIES in circulation to look for… and the 3 things that make pennies in CIRCULATION worth money!
RELATED VIDEO: Other RARE, VALUABLE, And ERROR Pennies
RELATED ARTICLE: Valuable Pennies You Can Find In Circulation Today
Do you know which valuable pennies in circulation to look for and what makes them worth so much? This video explains the 3 things that make pennies in circulation worth money!
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TRANSCRIPT:
Hi. This is Josh with The Fun Times Guide And I want to discuss the important matter of what makes a coin valuable. A lot of people ask me on The Fun Times Guide what their coins are worth.
Oftentimes, Lincoln pennies are the coin I’m most commonly asked about — and for good reason. I mean, a lot of people have pennies in their change jars, or their pocket change, or in collections, or albums kind of like this. And they’ll want to know which ones are valuable.
I really enjoy answering questions like that — because first of all, Lincoln pennies are very close to my heart. They were the first coins I ever collected as a kid. And the Lincoln cent series is one that I’ve always stayed very close to in my collecting endeavors. Even over the years I’ve gone to other types of coins, I’ve always kept in touch
with Lincoln pennies. So definitely… please keep all your questions coming about coins — especially those about Lincoln pennies. I’m always happy to help with those.
So, talking about the value of coins. You know, what makes a coin worth what it’s worth? How do you know if you’ve got a valuable coin? Basically, there are 3 key determinants that help to go into the value of a coin. That is:
1) The supply versus demand.
2) The issue of condition (you know, the state of preservation that the coin is in.)
And finally…
3) The absence or presence of errors and varieties.
One of the most common (or I should say rather the most popular) examples of a coin (Lincoln penny) that is scarce and in high demand is the 1909-S VDB Lincoln cent — which you see here beside the 1909 VDB penny. The 1909-S VDB cent was struck at the San Francisco mint (which renders an “S” mintmark) and it exhibits the VDB initials of the coin’s designer — Victor David Brenner. In fact, you can see those initials on the reverse side of the coin (the tail’s side of the coin) right under… you can see here… right at the base of the coin… below the wheat stalks by the rim.
So supply and demand… there were 484,000 1909-S VDB pennies made. And maybe 30,000 to 50,000 still exist today. So we’re talking about millions of collectors theoretically (both those who are active collectors versus those who collect coins on the side) vying for 30,000 maybe 1909-S VDB Lincoln cents. So, in that case, we’ve got a lot more demand than supply — and thus, the value of that coin is quite high. Yes, there are many out there. You can have this coin for a price. But because it is so in demand, it’s gonna have a higher price. That’s one thing to think about when it comes to looking for the value your coin is you need to know how many examples were struck or how many exists to get some sense as to how common or uncommon your coin is.
The next matter… condition. I’ve gotten many questions from people who come across common date coins — and the reader will oftentimes cite a very high price that they saw online for a similar piece with the same date selling for thousands of dollars. And they want to know if their coins are also worth thousands of dollars. The unfortunate answer in virtually every case that I’ve come across so far is NO, that coin is not worth thousands of dollars (at least the one you have) — because the coin that is being referenced is in most cases a “top quality” example of that coin. And as you might surmise, “top quality” coins are very scarce. They’re much harder to find than well-worn examples. Almost every date in the Lincoln cent series, Jefferson nickels, Washington quarters… you name it. Name a series, almost every date has a very expensive or valuable specimen out there because the “top quality” pieces are worth a lot of money. They’re very scarce. Everybody wants a nice example of the coin. So they’ll pay a lot of money to get a nice example. But in most cases, the coins you’re going to find in pocket change are very well-worn.
And when it comes to the common dates, a well-worn example is not worth… unfortunately, it’s not worth a lot of money. So when you come across say a 1941 Lincoln cent — which can be worth a few thousand dollars in top condition (let’s say MS 67 or 68 with red coloration). Yeah, you’re talking about a coin worth $5,000 potentially. But most 1941 pennies that you’re going to find in circulation are well-worn. And those are very common coins to begin with. So they’re worth a few cents — unfortunately, they’re not worth a few thousand dollars.
The next thing I want to discuss regarding what the value of your coin might be is in considering the absence or presence of errors and varieties. What I have here is a 1955 doubled die Lincoln cent — perhaps the most popular coin variety out there. And you can probably even see in this video the doubling in the date and in the inscription “Liberty” and in the motto “In God We Trust”. This is a very prominent doubled die. In fact, it’s probably one of the most easily seen doubled dies out there. Many doubled dies require the use of a 3X to 5X magnifying glass or coin loupe to really see the doubling very well. In this case, you can see it with a naked eye. The most valuable doubled dies are the ones that you’ll see with a naked eye — that don’t require a lot of magnification to see the variety.
A lot of folks will send in photos of coins where they see under 10X or even 20X magnification what may be the hint of doubling. Unfortunately, in most cases, when they’re showing me doubling it’s actually a case where the coin was not struck by a doubled die, but rather the coin itself was double struck or rather shifted during the strike and thus creating doubling of the design. Those are not valuable errors. In fact, coins that shift during the striking process or are struck by aging dies or weak dies that will create the illusion of doubling are actually damaged coins essentially… or defective coins. They’re not really worth anything over normal value. Doubled dies represent themselves in a very distinctive way — and I’ve discussed that in other articles that you can check out online and learn about what makes a doubled die versus a machine doubled coin. But a 1955 penny with no doubling (or no doubled die) is worth a few cents. Whereas, in this case here, a 1955 doubled die Lincoln cent… This one here is worth about $1,000. And again, it’s because of the error (or the variety, in this case) that this coin is worth a lot more than the 5 or 10 cents a typical 1955 penny is worth.
We’ve covered the issues of supply and demand, of condition, of errors and varieties. Now how do you know which pennies to look for? Yes, you can consider all those different determinants when looking for coins in your pocket change. In the case of pennies, I wrote an article some time ago that discusses or looks at the 43 pennies you want to hang on to that are worth much more than face value. I’ll go through the list here online — and you can check it out yourself at Coins.TheFunTimesGuide.com/valuable-pennies/. This will give you some idea as to some of the coins you might be able to find in pocket change that are worth more than face value. It’s not to say that if you don’t see the date that you have here that your coin is NOT worth any money. It’s just that, in most cases, the coins that are not listed on here are going to be found in well-worn condition. And in that situation, those pieces are worth only a few cents.
But by all means, I love answering questions at The Fun Times Guide. If you’ve got a coin you want to know more about and want to know what it’s worth, please write to me at The Fun Times Guide in the message box or in the Comment section down below — and I’ll gladly answer your question. There’s a lot to learn about coins — obviously. And learning the values of coins is not always a very straightforward thing. But if you know what to look for and know what the factors are that go into determining the value of a coin, it can at least help get you going in the right direction. So again this is Josh with The Fun Times Guide. I want to thank you for your time. I hope this video taught you a couple things about what to look for in the value of coins and how to tell if you’ve got a valuable coin. I hope you have a great day!
