Rare Pennies: In numismatics, the lowly penny — easily dismissed in the hurly-burly of everyday commerce — sometimes becomes a thing of remarkable value, well beyond what its face value would seem to promise.
Although 99 percent of those are worth only a penny, some have risen to the status of legend ji among collectors, fetching sale prices of hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars. These were ultimately super rarity coins at the tripling to quadrupling of the proof-only BL coins.
Table of Contents
Rare Pennies: The 1943 Copper Penny: A Wartime Oddity
Among the best known are the 1943 copper cents. In World War II it was classified as a strategic metal, critical to the war effort, and the U.S. Mint used zinc-coated steel to make cents in 1943.
A few copper planchets from 1942 were left behind in the presses, however, and a tiny number of copper pennies dated 1943 were produced by mistake.
With less than thirty or so confirmed examples extant, these Sep-1932-dated curiosities are unquestionably numismatic wonders and bastions of WWII-suppressed numismatic information. In a 2019 auction, one specimen sold for $1.7 million, one of the highest prices ever paid for a penny.
Examples in circulated condition such as VG-8 bring elevated prices into the six-figure range on a regular basis.
Its intrigue reaches beyond coin collectors — it has even influenced popular culture, with tales of treasure found in pocket change motivating generations of Americans to examine their 1943 pennies.
Steel cents from 1943 are fairly common, in fact, the only more common U.S. coins date to 1909 and after, whereas the copper cents of 1943 still ranks as one of the top coins in American numismatics.
The 1944 Steel Penny:
Rare Pennies- In a similar error chain, a handful of 1944 cents were inadvertently struck on left-over zinc-coated steel planchets rather than the copper-reissued for 1944.
There are fewer than two dozen confirmed specimens of these coins, and they rank among the greatest of numismatic rarities, often selling for between $75,000 and $500,000 depending on condition and mint mark.
The 1944 steel cent provides a spot-on example of how such transition phases in the minting process can produce priceless oddities when materials according to different production specs unintentionally get thrown in together.
Similar to their 1943 copper siblings, these coins test regularly but show some unique traits when weighed and checked for magnetic qualities.
The 1856 Flying Eagle Cent - America’s First Small Cent
The large copper cents that dated to the country’s founding through 1857 were being replaced by the smaller-sized coins that are still in use.
Struck as pattern coins to show the new design to congressmen and others, approximately 2,000 were produced, and of course, hundreds or more perished over the years from melting.
There are now thought to be fewer than 1,000 known specimens, and fine examples routinely sell for between $10,000 and $25,000.
Fine specimens have sold for over $150,000 at auction. In addition to its low mintage, the historical distinction of being America’s first small-diameter cent adds to its desirability among collectors.
1877 1c Indian Head Cent Key Date Gem BU Coin: UI Control State
Rare Pennies- On occasion, scarcity arises not from errors or from being met with transitional status but only a small offering is made.
The mintage of the only issue in the Indian Head cent series to have a smaller mintage was the 1877 852,500, which compares obligingly with coins produced at most have tens of millions, if not more.
Economic circumstances caused the widespread melting and the currents carried them away at an unusually high rate, decreasing the population of those few which did survive.
Clean ones typically bring $10,000 to $15,000, and a pristine uncirculated specimen $100,000 or more. Tens of thousands of excellent and/or beautiful examples from some dates, including 1877, were recognized as such decades ago and held for posterity;
The 1877 cent circulated in commerce, so decent survivors are very worn and pretty mangles—they are pricey to the serious collector in high grade.
The 1909-S VDB Lincoln Cent: A First-Year Kerfuffle
The new Lincoln cent made its debut in 1909, along with a transitory dust-up over the large initials (VDB) in the reverse.
Public outcry caused the initials to be removed, but not before 484,000 were minted by the San Francisco Mint with the VDB initials on the reverse.
The low mintage, first-year type status, and controversial status of the coin led to permanent collector demand. Today, examples trade hands for $1,000, even in circulated grade, with uncirculated examples bringing $25 or more.
Arguably the most famous key date in the entire longest-running U.S. coin series, even casual collectors know the 1909-S VDB is a numismatic treasure.
Rare Pennies: Beyond Face Value
These one of a kind pennies serve as a powerful reminder about the value of a coin is often found well beyond the cost to spend it.
Each signifies a physical link to a specific era — a wartime scarcity of materials, a design transition, or a controversy over neoteric motif. Scarcity makes them blue-chip track-day toys, with the prices following one direction for decades.
While the penny is of little value to most Americans when it comes to commerce, these little pieces of copper and bronze remain among the most interesting and valuable treasures that you will find in the vast world of American coins.
