$1200 For a Penny? Make Money Collecting Pennies

Recently I got into collecting wheat pennies. The wheat penny is a classic iconic early 21st century American coin with a face value of 1 cent that was minted from 1909 to 1956. I had read that a few rare ones could be as valuable as $750+ so I decided it was worth the trouble to start looking around.

As you can see above, these are my newer pennies. I am saving the shiny, newer ones for a project, a penny top table.

The dates listed below are worth more than just a few cents, unlike most of the ones referenced above.

Values are for problem-free coins in a grade of good or better, and uncirculated for those dated 1959 and later.

  • 1909 — $3 and up
  • 1909 VDB — $10 and up
  • 1909-S — $85 and up
  • 1909-S VDB — $750 and up
  • 1910-S – $15
  • 1911-D – $5
  • 1911-S – $40
  • 1912 – $1
  • 1912-D – $6
  • 1912-S – $20
  • 1913-D – $3
  • 1913-S – $12
  • 1914-D – $175
  • 1914-S – $20
  • 1915 – $1.50
  • 1915-D – $2
  • 1915-S – $20
  • 1916-D – $1
  • 1916-S – $1.50
  • 1921-S – $1
  • 1922-D – $15
  • 1922 plain – $650
  • 1923-S – $2
  • 1924-D – $30
  • 1924-S – $1
  • 1926-S – $5
  • 1931-D – $4
  • 1931-S – $100
  • 1932 – $1.50
  • 1932-D – $1
  • 1933 – $1
  • 1933-D – $2
  • 1943-D boldly doubled mintmark – $10
  • 1944 D/S – $125
  • 1946-S/D – $35
  • 1955 doubled die, obverse — $1,200
  • 1970-S small date – $30
  • 1972 doubled die – $300
  • 1983 doubled die – $250
  • 1984 doubled die – $200
  • 1992-D close “AM” – $500
  • 1995 doubled die – $25
  • 1999 wide “AM” – $500

Here is another handy chart:

Here's a book to check out for more info and basics.