1909S VDB is the holy grail of wheat pennies. It has the lowest mintage of only 484,000. In poor condition, it could still be worth $400 to $500.
1914 D, the second lowest mintage. In poor condition, $90-$120.
1931S, the third lowest mintage. In poor condition, $35-$45.
Do you see the trend here? Low mintage.
Poor condition – why poor condition? Because when you go through your grandfather’s or your father’s pocket change that he threw in a wheat penny coffee can, that’s probably the condition the pennies will be in. Nice to find, but they’re not buried treasure in that condition.
1922D that has no D – the prices are all over the place. In 1922, all pennies were made in Denver. The die wore out on the back end of production, causing the no D penny.
And finally, the 1955 double die obverse. In other words, the lettering looks doubled on the front of the penny. Fabricated by many tool and die machinists, many counterfeits are out there, so we will not even discuss price.
I am the eternal optimist. I set my son down with 10,000 wheat pennies that came out of coffee cans and old jars that people have collected over the years. How many of these top five pennies did he find? NONE.
There’s a reason why they have potential value – there are not that many out there.
Happy hunting!
JOHN E. RICHARD
973-418-0093
Comments