1955 Penny Value: Doubled Die Price & Mint Chart

In 1955 the U.S. Mint struck about 938.4 million Lincoln cents for circulation: Philadelphia 330.6 million, Denver 563.3 million, San Francisco 44.6 million. That is 124% more than 1954. Among the 117 years from 1909 to 2025, 1955 ranks number 80 by total mintage (1 = most coins made), so it is a mid-range date for availability. The scarcest 1955 issue by mintage is San Francisco (44,610,000); the most common is Denver (563,257,500). Within the 1950s, 1955 ranks 8 of 10 years for mintage; the decade's high was 1959 (1.89 billion) and its low was 1954 (419.4 million). Mint by mint: Philadelphia rose 361% from 1954; Denver rose 124% from 1954; San Francisco fell 54% from 1954. Proof cents for collectors: 378,200 from Philadelphia.

The mint mark, if any, sits under the date on the front of the coin. A 1955 cent with no mint mark was struck at Philadelphia and is the normal, common form for that mint. The letters you can find on 1955 circulation cents are D (Denver) and S (San Francisco). Proof cents for 1955 were struck at Philadelphia with no mint mark; they have mirror-like fields and came from collector sets, not from circulation.

• 1955 doubled-die obverse. A dramatic, naked-eye-visible doubling of the date, LIBERTY, and IN GOD WE TRUST caused by a misaligned hubbing; widely credited with launching mainstream collector interest in doubled-die varieties.
• 1955 is the year of the famous doubled die obverse: the date, LIBERTY and IN GOD WE TRUST show clear, separated doubling visible without a loupe. Do not confuse it with the common 'poor man's doubled die', where only the 5s look slightly thickened from a worn die, or with machine doubling, which looks flat and shelf-like.
• From 1918 onward the initials V.D.B. sit in tiny letters on the truncation of Lincoln's shoulder on the obverse. They are normal and do not add value; they are simply a way to confirm the coin's era.
• Wheat cents were struck in bronze (3.11 g) except for 1943. Genuine coins show a plain edge and a slightly lighter, more reddish colour than modern zinc cents when uncirculated; a brown, evenly worn coin is the normal state for this era and is not damage.
• True die doubling is rounded and separated; flat, shelf-like doubling is machine doubling and adds nothing. The mint marks guide has side-by-side examples.

PCGS Price Guide values for 1955 cents (updated September 24, 2026, U.S. dollars, for coins certified by PCGS):

• 1955: $9 in MS63 RD and $22 in MS65 RD.
• 1955-D: $8 in MS63 RD and $20 in MS65 RD.
• 1955-S: $5 in MS63 RD and $18 in MS65 RD.

The 1955 coins that bring real money are the varieties and errors:

• 1955 Doubled Die Obverse (RD): $3,750 in MS60 up to $65,000 in MS65.

San Francisco is the lowest-mintage 1955 issue (44,610,000 struck), so it is the mint collectors check first. Guide prices assume a certified coin; an uncertified, worn 1955 cent usually sells for less than the lowest figure above, often a few cents in bulk wheat-cent lots. RD means full original red copper, RB red-brown, BN brown; the color grade can multiply the price. How grade and variety turn into a number is explained in what makes a coin valuable.

About 40,000 doubled die cents were struck during one night shift at the Philadelphia Mint, and roughly 20,000 to 24,000 were released, many through cigarette vending machines (Wikipedia). CoinValueChecker estimates 10,000 to 15,000 survive (CoinValueChecker).

PCGS Price Guide (September 24, 2026):

• Brown (BN): $875 in Good 4, $2,000 in XF40, $3,500 in MS60, $9,000 in MS65, $30,500 in MS66.
• Red-brown (RB): $3,750 in MS60 to $18,000 in MS65.
• Red (RD): $3,750 in MS60 to $65,000 in MS65.

The record: a PCGS MS65+ RD sold for $287,156.25 at GreatCollections in January 2023 (CoinValueChecker; CoinWeek reports the same coin at $287,156). All doubled die years are compared on double die penny.

• Poor man's doubled die: only the last 5 of the date looks thick or doubled, from die wear. It sells for a few dollars (Wikipedia).
• Machine doubling: flat, shelf-like edges on the letters; it adds nothing.
• Counterfeits: many fakes of the real doubled die exist. Wikipedia notes that genuine coins show vertical die polishing lines to the left of the T in ONE CENT on the back. Buy only certified examples.

On the real coin, the doubling on the date, LIBERTY and IN GOD WE TRUST is plain to the naked eye. If you need a strong loupe to see it, it is almost certainly not the 1955 doubled die.

After 1955, San Francisco did not strike S-marked cents again until 1968 (the 1964–1967 San Francisco cents carry no mint mark, per the mintage tables on our 1968 page). Collectors expected the 1955-S to be the last and saved it in rolls (CoinValueChecker). That is why it has the lowest 1955 mintage (44,610,000) but is still cheap: PCGS lists it at $18 in MS65 RD. Only near-perfect coins bring more, $150 in MS67 RD and $10,000 in MS68 RD (PCGS, September 24, 2026).

• Date and mint mark: compare with the key dates on most valuable wheat pennies. The big ones are 1909-S VDB, 1914-D, 1922 No D and 1931-S.
• Doubling: check the date, LIBERTY and IN GOD WE TRUST for rounded, separated doubling.
• Metal: a 1943 should be steel and stick to a magnet; a 1944 should not.
• Color: full red uncirculated coins are worth several times brown ones in the same grade. For a common 1955, PCGS lists $22 in MS65 RD.
• Surface: cleaned, scratched or corroded coins lose most of their premium.

If none of these applies, a worn wheat cent is usually worth a few cents to a dollar; see wheat penny value.