2020 Penny Value: Price Chart by Grade & Mint Mark

In 2020 the U.S. Mint struck about 7.60 billion Lincoln cents for circulation: Philadelphia 3.56 billion, Denver 4.04 billion. That is 8% more than 2019. Among the 117 years from 1909 to 2025, 2020 ranks number 37 by total mintage (1 = most coins made), so it is a mid-range date for availability. The scarcest 2020 issue by mintage is Philadelphia (3,560,800,000); the most common is Denver (4,035,600,000). Within the 2020s, 2020 ranks 2 of 6 years for mintage; the decade's high was 2021 (7.91 billion) and its low was 2025 (1.30 billion). Mint by mint: Philadelphia rose 1% from 2019; Denver rose 15% from 2019. Proof cents for collectors: 777,913 from San Francisco.

The mint mark, if any, sits under the date on the front of the coin. A 2020 cent with no mint mark was struck at Philadelphia and is the normal, common form for that mint. The letters you can find on 2020 circulation cents are D (Denver). Proof cents carry an S and have mirror-like fields; they came from collector sets, not from circulation.

• Cents from 1983 onward are copper-plated zinc (about 2.5 g). The plating is thin, so these coins corrode easily: bubbles, pitting or grey spots on a bright coin are damage, not a variety.
• From 2010 the reverse shows the Union Shield. Circulation coins are copper-plated zinc; the only way to get a different alloy is a collector set, so a 2010-or-later cent that weighs about 3.1 g is worth a second look but is almost always a plated or altered piece.
• Rule out cleaning (unnatural brightness, fine parallel scratches) and flat machine doubling before you call anything a variety; see how to read dates and mint marks.

PCGS Price Guide values for 2020 cents (updated September 24, 2026, U.S. dollars, for coins certified by PCGS):

The 2020 coins that bring real money are the varieties and errors:

• 2020-D Shield (RD): $4 in MS63 up to $65 in MS67.
• 2020 Shield (RD): $6 in MS63 up to $45 in MS67.

Philadelphia is the lowest-mintage 2020 issue (3,560,800,000 struck), so it is the mint collectors check first. Guide prices assume a certified coin; an uncertified, worn 2020 cent usually sells for less than the lowest figure above, and most circulated zinc cents are worth face value. 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.