Do you have a 1990 penny worth big-time cash money? You just might, but a lot of people can’t tell whether they have a rare 1990 error penny worth thousands of dollars or a very common example typically worth face value. I’ll show you the differences between the common 1990 Philadelphia circulation-strike penny and the rare 1990 No-S proof penny worth thousands of dollars.
⚡TIMESTAMPS⚡
00:00 Intro about the 1990 Penny with NO mint mark
00:26 This video will help YOU identify the valuable error penny
00:38 Why does this coin trigger SO many questions?
02:03 $7,000 to $19,000 prices for 1990 No-S PROOF pennies!
02:44 How many of these error pennies were made?
03:07 Why these are such rare & valuable error pennies
03:45 How to tell a rare 1990 no mintmark penny from a common one
04:42 Where you can find 1990 No S Proof pennies
05:44 Values for a rare 1990 no mint mark penny
05:56 Values for a common 1990 no mint mark penny
07:15 Summary: key points & takeaways
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TRANSCRIPT:
Hey everybody, this is Josh with the US Coins Guide and today I’m talking about the 1990 penny with NO mintmark under the date.
You can see right there… this Lincoln cent is a 1990 dated penny with NO mintmark.
And the question I ask you is: Can you tell if that coin is worth a penny, worth 1 cent, worth face value? Or worth $3,000 to $5,000 or more?
Well, a lot of folks don’t know how to tell if this coin is worth face value or worth a ton of money. I’m going to tell you how YOU can figure that out for yourself — and WHY this coin could be worth so much money.
In all the years I’ve been writing about coins and doing videos about coins, I can’t think of one that has garnered more attention from the people who follow my channels than this coin right here!
This is a 1990 Lincoln cent that does NOT show a mint mark under the date.
And I use that specific nomenclature for a variety of reasons — which will become evident in a minute. But let me first describe what you see here…
This is a 1990 Philadelphia-struck Lincoln cent produced for circulation. Over 6.8 billion (with a “B”, as in “boy”) were struck. This is a highly common coin. And you probably have found them before in pocket change or in roll searching.
And if you do… And it looks like this right here… with some wear on it, or some patination or other signs of aging and exposure to the elements, it’s worth basically face value. One cent.
So, why is this coin triggering so many questions and inquiries in my inboxes and in the comments section on US Coins Guide?
Well, take a look at this…
This right here… I’m on Heritage Auction’s website. That’s www.ha.com.
And you see these 3 coins right here. These are 3 of several that Heritage has sold over the years. Look at these prices! $19,550… $7,200… $7,050.
And look at the coins on the screen. Now, they may look SIMILAR to the coin I just showed you… A 1990 penny with NO mint mark under the date.
These are 1990 No S (or no San Francisco mintmark) Proof Lincoln cents. And these are varieties that were produced in error. When, as the story goes (and as the theory goes), somehow a 1990 Philadelphia obverse die was given a mirror-like finish and put into Proof production.
Now how many were made is unknown exactly. The U.S. mint thought that possibly 3,500 got out before the error was discovered and the die was taken out of production.
But… and then there are some who believe that only a few hundred exist. R
Whether it’s a few hundred or 3,000 or somewhere in between or a little more a little less, these are VERY rare and valuable pennies. Because they were not supposed to look like this. They were supposed to have an “S” mint mark under the date — as all proofs of this era (or THAT era, I should say) had. Or at least most proofs of that era anyway.
And, of course, they don’t. And because a lot of people are aware of this particular and extremely valuable variety (or error variety, as some would say), a lot of folks who find THIS coin in circulation think they have landed a very valuable error. And they get, understandably, very excited. And they think they have a coin worth thousands of dollars.
I want to make sure you can tell the difference here…
This is, again, a Philadelphia circulation strike. You can tell because of the… First of all, you can tell because of the strike quality. This is a worn example — so it’s going to look kind of scrubby anyway.
But even uncirculated examples that have no wear have kind of a matte satiny finish. They’ll look shiny, but they will not be reflective. And the field (or the flat areas) will have kind of the same finish as the devices — or the design and the inscriptions and all that kind of stuff.
Whereas here, on the Proof examples, they have a much shinier, more reflective field (or flat area) against frosty (or cameo) devices and inscriptions.
So like Lincoln’s bust looks kind of frosty — and the “Liberty” legend, and the motto “In God we trust,” and the date have a frostier appearance.
The 1990 No-S Penny is virtually always found in Proof sets. So basically, you’re not going to just find this coin in pocket change.
I’m not saying you CAN’T find it in pocket change. It’s possible that somebody who doesn’t know the value of this penny and got a 1990 No-S Penny in their 1990 Proof set broke it out and spent it as pocket change. I mean, that does happen. But the chances of that happening and you landing that particular coin are so extraordinarily rare.
You can pretty much bet that when you come across a coin that looks like this, it’s going to be a 1990 Philadelphia circulation strike penny.
And again, just looking at the coins, the two coins — the circulation strike right here, and the Proof strike — you can see the differences. I mean, they just look different. The strike quality on the proof is much sharper. The rims are more squared off. Lincoln’s bust is much sharper and more delineated. And again, you’ve got the contrasting finishes between the fields and the devices.
And that is how you tell a 1990 No S Proof Penny seen here and worth $3,000 to $5,000 and up. Telling these coins apart from this very common 1990 Philadelphia circulation strike penny worth basically 1 cent when worn. And 10 to 50 cents in most uncirculated grades.
And there you have it. That is how you tell a 1990 Philadelphia circulation strike penny like this one right here, apart from the 1990 No S Proof Penny worth thousands of dollars.
And again, I’m not going to say that you can’t find the 1990 No S Proof Penny in circulation because it technically is possible. But your best bet is landing one in a Proof set that has been unsearched by, you know, non-numismatic eyes for years and years and years.
Maybe you either landed upon it somehow in like an inheritance. Or you picked it up somehow in an estate sale. Or maybe a coin dealer sold it to you and didn’t search for it — and it was like a “cherry pick” find.
All those things are possible. But the long story short is essentially is if you find a 1990 penny in circulation that looks kind of like this AND has no mintmark, it is most likely a Philadelphia strike. And if it’s worn, it’s worth 1 cent.
So, I hope you find this video helpful. Drop a comment below if you have found a 1990 penny that you think might be the real McCoy, the No S Penny. Or, if you’re curious about one that you have, you know, let us know.
We also have on Coins.TheFunTimesGuide.com a bevy of articles on this topic — where you can upload pictures to the comments section. I’ll be happy to take a look and try to help you identify what YOU have.
If you enjoyed this video, please give us a nice thumbs up. That helps a whole lot. Subscribe to our channel here, the US Coins Guide. And most of all, know that I greatly appreciate your time.
So again, this is Josh with the US Coins Guide signing off and thanking you and wishing you happy collecting!
