Penny Collectors: Top Pennies to Look For

Penny collectors mostly look for Lincoln cents with a scarce date, a scarce mint mark or a recognised die variety, because those are worth many times face value even when worn. A second group collects elongated or pressed pennies, the oval souvenirs rolled out by machines at museums and parks (Wikipedia); PennyCollector.com, one of the top results for this search, is a directory of those machines. This page covers both, starting with the coins to pull from a jar.

PCGS grades run from 1 to 70: 4 is Good (heavily worn, date clear), 12 is Fine, 40 is Extremely Fine and 60 to 70 is Mint State. BN, RB and RD mean brown, red-brown and full red copper. Every price below is from the PCGS Price Guide, September 24, 2026.

• 1909-S VDB: $875 in G-4 BN, $1,150 in F-12, $2,750 in MS63 BN.
• 1914-D: $185 in G-4 BN, $285 in F-12, $850 in EF-40.
• 1922 No D (strong reverse): $550 in G-4 BN, $825 in F-12.
• 1909-S: $90 in G-4 BN, $120 in F-12.
• 1931-S: $70 in G-4 BN, $90 in F-12.
• 1917 doubled die obverse: $90 in G-4 BN, $275 in F-12.
• 1955 doubled die obverse: $875 in G-4 BN, $950 in F-12, $2,000 in EF-40.
• 1969-S doubled die obverse (about 100 known): $28,500 in MS60 BN.
• 1972 doubled die obverse: $240 in MS60 BN.
• 1943 bronze (10 to 15 known): $235,000 in EF-40 BN.

Cheaper coins that belong in the same search: 1924-D ($26 in G-4 BN), 1926-S ($10 in G-4 BN), 1983 doubled die reverse ($65 in MS60 BN) and the 1992 Close AM ($2,600 in MS60 BN). Each year's page in Lincoln penny value by year has the full price ladder.

For worn coins found in change, the dates that matter are 1909-S, 1909-S VDB, 1914-D, 1922 with no mint mark, 1924-D, 1926-S and 1931-S, plus the 1917, 1955 and 1969-S doubled dies and the 1943 bronze and 1944 steel off-metal cents (PCGS Price Guide, September 24, 2026). For new-looking modern cents, the doubled dies of 1972 and 1983 and the 1992 Close AM are the ones to check. Most other dates are worth one or two cents unless they are uncirculated with full red colour.

No single year: several cents list at about $20,000 in the PCGS Price Guide, September 24, 2026, each only in a specific grade:

• 1992 Close AM: $20,000 in MS64 RB and MS64 RD.
• 1920-S: $20,000 in MS65 RD.
• 1917-D: $20,000 in MS66 RD.
• 1922 No D (strong reverse): $21,500 in MS60 RB.
• 2025 last circulating cent with Omega privy mark: $22,500 in MS64 RD.

The same coins in worn condition are worth far less, so grade is the first thing to judge.

• Sort by date and pull the dates listed above.
• Read the mint mark under the date: D is Denver, S is San Francisco, none is usually Philadelphia. See the dates and mint marks guide.
• Use a magnifier on LIBERTY, IN GOD WE TRUST and the date; a doubled die shows clearly split letters, not a blurry shadow.
• Try a magnet on any 1943 or 1944 cent. Normal 1943 cents are steel and stick; a 1943 that does not stick, or a 1944 that does, is the rare off-metal kind (see the 1943 penny page).
• Do not clean anything. Cleaning lowers value; see coin care and cleaning.

CoinLens reads the date, mint mark and known varieties from a photo; to keep a list of what you find, see the coin collection tracker.

An elongated coin is a coin that has been flattened and embossed with a new design, usually at a tourist site (Wikipedia). Key facts from Wikipedia:

• The first U.S. elongated coins were made at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago.
• Stand-alone commercial machines were introduced in 1988.
• Most machines charge about $1 plus the coin.
• Cents dated after 1982 have a zinc core and can show zinc streaks when rolled, so collectors bring older copper cents to press.
• In the U.S. the practice is legal as long as the coin is not used fraudulently (18 U.S.C. § 331).
• The Elongated Collectors, a non-profit founded in 1966, publishes a quarterly newsletter and holds annual meetings.

Pressed pennies are souvenirs, valued by collectors for the design and location rather than the coin. Before you press a cent, check its date against the list above so a key date does not end up flattened.

Research and drafting for this page were assisted by AI and checked line by line against the sources listed below. Every price names the price guide, dealer listing or auction and the date it was read; where we could not confirm a figure we say so instead of estimating. If you find an error, tell us and we will correct it.