Metal Detecting for Wheat Pennies
Coins are one of my favorite things to find while metal detecting. My father has a massive collection of coins, so I grew up with a major appreciation for old coins. Finding coins with your metal detector is very exciting and can also be profitable.
Most Valuable Wheat Pennies
Many wheat pennies are worth well more than their face values. Below, we will discuss the most valuable wheat pennies ever minted, and how you can distinguish them from one another. These are the best of the best when it comes to wheat pennies that have high value ever minted.
Other Wheat Penny Prices
While not all wheat pennies are worth as much as those listed above, every wheat penny I have seen is worth more than face value. Not one I have checked has been worth, for example, just one cent. Keep in mind the price of these coins will vary by mintmark and condition.
What metal was used in the pennies?
In 1943 the United States was gearing up to fight World War II. Copper is a critical war metal used in the production of ammunitions. To help the war effort, the United States Mint stopped making pennies using copper and started using planchets that were zinc coated steel. Unfortunately, a few leftover planchets from 1942 slipped through the process and resulted in 1943 pennies made on a bronze planchet. Beware of altered coins made by copper plating genuine 1943 steel cents or from 1948 Lincoln cents by removing the left side of the 8 to make it look like a 3. Learning how to authenticate a 1943 copper penny is a relatively easy task.
What year were pennies made on bronze?
Unfortunately, a few leftover planchets from 1942 slipped through the process and resulted in 1943 pennies made on a bronze planchet. Beware of altered coins made by copper plating genuine 1943 steel cents or from 1948 Lincoln cents by removing the left side of the 8 to make it look like a 3.
How many Lincoln cents were produced in 1931?
By 1931 the United States was in the middle of the Great Depression and the San Francisco mint only produced 866,000 Lincoln cents that year. Consequently, demand for pennies plummeted and most of them remained in bank vaults for a few years until demand caught up with the remaining supply.
What is the King of Lincoln Cent?
Most notably known as the "King of Lincoln Cent Varieties," the 1955 doubled die obverse earns its title by exhibiting the most dramatic doubling ever seen on a United States coin. There are also examples of less dramatic doubling that can be found, but these coins do not carry the premium value that the "King" has. Look for a very widespread of doubling on the date and the motto "IN GOD WE TRUST." Due to the popularity of this variety, beware of very deceptive counterfeits. Authentication is required before you purchase one of these coins.
Where is the V.D.B. on a coin?
Leech. Instead, Brenner added his initials "V.D.B." to the reverse of the coin at the bottom between the stalks of the wheat ears.
When did mints use punches?
Up until 1990, mint employees used a small letter punch to add the mint mark to the working die by hand. Although very precise in their work, the exact position of the mint Mark tended to vary. Additionally, sometimes employees punched the wrong letter or oriented the letter in the wrong place.
Who designed the 1909 penny?
1909-S VDB. In 1909 the United States Mint stopped producing Indian Head pennies and started producing Lincoln cents. Victor David Brenner designed the new penny at the request of President Theodore Roosevelt. Brenner's redesign was met with some resistance, specifically from Chief Engraver Charles Barber.
10 Wheat Cents Worth a Pretty Penny
You’ve probably come across a few of these pennies in your pocket before, the wheat penny, or wheat cent, is one of the most popular coins to collect in the world of coin collecting.
1917 Doubled Die
The 1917 Double Die Wheat penny exhibits class V doubling, or “pivoted hub doubling. It’s not a very strong doubled die, and the doubling is mostly seen on the date and in the words IN GOD WE TRUST. This is a very popular coin among coin collectors so it’s certainly one to look out for. It may be difficult to see the doubling on worn coins.
1909-S Over Horizontal S
The 1909-s over horizontal s is an error coin called an RPM, Repunched Mint Mark. What happened was that the first S was punched into the die in the wrong orientation, and then corrected with a second S. All mint marks were hand-punched into the dies prior to 1990.
1922-D No D
The 1922 D No D Lincoln Wheat cent is the only circulation strike in the entire series that lacks its intended mint mark. At the the time, the Denver Mint was the only Mint producing pennies, and the coins should have the D mint mark.
1909-S VDB
The 1909 S VDB Lincoln Wheat cent is quite challenging to acquire, definitely one of the most popular in the series. These are often counterfeited however, so authentication is strongly recommended if you happen to find one of these rare coins.
1955 Doubled Die
The 1955 Doubled Die Lincoln Wheat penny is an extremely famous and naturally very popular penny with collectors. The doubling on this wheat cent is so dramatic it's visible without magnification. There were only approximately 24,000 of these highly desirable coins released into circulation.
1944 Steel Cent
The 1944 Steel Wheat cent was created by sheer accident. It’s speculated that either steel blanks from the previous year had been left behind and accidentally struck, or steel blanks from foreign coins that the Mint was producing were mistakenly mixed in with the copper blanks and struck.
About Wheat Pennies
Wheat pennies replaced the Indian Head design, which adorned our nation’s one-cent coin from 1859 to 1909.
Wheat Cent Error Coins
1922 no mint mark — Only the Denver mint produced pennies in 1922, but weak dies (the device itself which actually imprints the image into a coin) produced coins with a faint “D” and some coins on which no “D” mint mark appears at all.
What years are wheat penny valuable?
Most valuable Wheat Pennies – Other Key Years. Look for these years and you won’t regret it – 1919, 1940, 1941, 1942, 1945, 1946, 1956, 1957 and 1958. As we said above, you must take into account that the state of conservation is key to valuing your wheat cent. RELATED.
What is a wheat penny?
Wheat pennies are coins that, with few exceptions, were minted in incredibly high quantities. So in order for a coin to fetch a high price on the collector’s market or as an investment, we need one of these two characteristics:
What is the best coin to start a collection with?
The Wheat Penny – a great option to start a coin collection with. The Lincoln cents in general are a series of coins that have as many lovers as haters. As we have mentioned, these one-cent coins are probably the most collected series in the world for several reasons: Low difficulty in getting almost all the dates.
What is the most valuable penny in 2021?
Wheat Pennies – the Most Valuable Editions to Look Out for – 2021 Value Chart. Wheat Pennies are part of the Lincoln Pennies family and probably one of the most valuable old coins. It is widely available and easy to find in good condition, making it a very affordable and fun collection for any contemporary coin collector.
Why are wheat penny coins easy to store?
Easy storage, because there are many albums that have the holes ready to be filled with the coins. A large number of specialized bibliographies. Wheat Pennies are an accessible collection for youngsters who want to start in the world of coin collecting, to advanced collectors with important capitals.
How many 1943 wheat penny coins are there?
For these 1943 Wheat Pennies, of which about 25 are known in total, and many of them in circulation, hundreds of thousands of dollars can be forked out, including more than a million for the best-preserved ones. YOU MAY LIKE.
How much did a 1930s white mirlor coin cost?
In the 1930s they can be bought for between $5 and $30. Post-Great War, given their mass production, there are few that cost more than $1.
How many pennies were minted in 1873?
Slightly more than 4 million of them were minted. However, financial hardship of the time (including the economic downturn following the "Panic of 1873") meant that few people were able to save coins for their collections. As a result, most of these pennies went into circulation.
When did copper become a penny?
In 1856 , the price of copper rose to the point that it took more than a penny's worth of copper to make a penny. Prior to this date, pennies were large and bulky and were almost the size of a half-dollar. To lower costs, the United States Mint sought to reduce the size of the penny (to its current diameter).
How many 1909 VDB coins were struck?
As with the 1909-S VDB Lincoln Penny, this highly valued penny proof bears all three of the coin designer's initials: "VDB." Only 1,194 of these proof coins were struck at the Philadelphia mint before the Treasury Department dictated that the designer's initials be removed from the coin. The low mintage alone makes this coin extremely rare, but the brilliant colors that resulted from a coin being stored for 100 years makes this coin extremely attractive to collectors.
What metal was used to strike a 1943 penny?
Although there is some argument that mint workers actually struck these coins on bronze alloy planchets on purpose, it is more probable that a few bronze planchets left over from the previous year got stuck on a conveyor belt or tote and was incorporated into the regular striking process.
How many 1864 pennies were made?
It is estimated that only 5 million of these coins were made, and very few of them were saved in uncirculated condition. 10 of 16.
Why did people hoard gold and silver coins?
In 1864, the Civil War was dragging on, and the United States economy was extremely fragile. Many citizens hoarded gold, silver, and copper coins as a store of wealth. This made is difficult for the federal government to obtain the metal needed for minting coins.
What is a Lincoln penny made of?
In 1944, Lincoln pennies were reverted to the original bronze alloy made of 95 percent copper and 5 percent tin. But two zinc-plated steel planchets somehow ended up in the coining press in the San Francisco mint. One example circulated for a while before being picked up by a collector.