- Wheat Pennies
1909 was the first year wheat penny coins were minted. Replacing Indian Head pennies, which were minted from 1859 through 1909, Lincoln pennies were welcomed by massive crowds that gathered at banks on the August 2nd day that the new one-cent coins arrived in commerce. While the coins were highly popular with the public from day one, there was initial outcry about the prominence of the initials of Victor David Brenner, the designer of the Lincoln wheat penny. His initials, VDB, are located on the reverse side near the rim and centered below the wheat stalks. The quick removal of the initials led to the creation of several varieties of wheat penny coins, which are discussed below.
Wheat Penny Value 1941
Read up on the history of lincoln wheat pennies in this special blog post.
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Knowing which Lincoln Wheat pennies are key dates, rarities or varieties will help you appreciate that a small difference on a coin can mean significant differences in its value. You can learn how to identify these coins by studying the description of each variety of Lincoln cent paying particular attention to the photo of the coin.
Wheat Penny Value 1946
- Which pennies have little value? Some pennies are not selling too well at this time such as common date, circulated wheat pennies, heavily used Lincoln Memorial pennies, pennies from the last few years, and common modern cents.
- As with other pennies, wheat cents have a face value of $0.01, and a collectible value, which varies depending on several factors.
- The 1955 Double Die Wheat Penny error coin is the most plentiful of all Wheat Penny error coins and can bring a small fortune itself. It is often compared to the 1922 error coin in terms of desirability although it is much more common than the 1922. The 1955 Double Die Wheat Penny can fetch around $1,500.00 for a very fine version of the coin.
- It is also important to note at this point that all wheat pennies are worth more than face value. Indeed the price of copper is high enough that a 1 cent wheat penny is valued 2-3 cents solely for its metal content. This is in addition to the numismatic value, which is about 5-10 cents for common dates of the 1934-1958 range.