Wheat Penny Overview
about 110 years since its first gear coinage, the wheat penny remains a basic of mint collections and a favorite among beginning collectors .
mint of the wheat penny began in 1909 and extended all the way until 1959, when it was replaced with the Lincoln Memorial penny to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the pale yellow penny .
The mint was designed by lithuanian medalist Victor David Brenner, whose dim-witted obverse face design has remained largely unchanged throughout the versatile iterations of the Lincoln cent.
The obverse features the iconic profile flop portrayal of Abraham Lincoln, with the word “ Liberty ” on his left and the year of mintage to his correctly. Above his head is the motto “ IN GOD WE TRUST. ”
On the inverse, the denomination “ ONE CENT ” is big and top-center, with “ UNITED STATES OF AMERICA ” barely below it. These are surrounded by two stalks of wheat. Near the top rim is the motto “ E PLURIBUS UNUM. ”
history of the 1909 Wheat Penny
1909 was the centennial of Abraham Lincoln ’ s birth. President Theodore Roosevelt, in order to commemorate Lincoln, who was a personal idol of his, commissioned the creation of a penny piece with Lincoln ’ s portrait .
This was the first gear time that a veridical person had appeared on U.S. neologism ( outside of the commemorative columbian half dollar, which featured Christopher Columbus ). Prior to the wheat penny, only animals and assumed figures like the native American on the Buffalo nickel and Liberty on the Morgan silver dollar had been seen on U.S. coins .
As share of the master reverse design, Victor David Brenner included his initials near the lower brim, below the pale yellow .
many felt this was excessively bluff of a design choice and wanted to remove the initials entirely. By August of 1909, new designs with no initials were already being minted. These varieties will be discussed further in the adjacent section .
1909 pale yellow pennies were only minted in Philadelphia and San Francisco. In Philadelphia, 100,697,618 pale yellow pennies were minted. In San Francisco, merely 2,309,000 were minted .
Compositionally, the 1909 wheat penny is 95 % copper and 5 % tin and zinc, which is criterion for wheat pennies. besides standard for wheat pennies are the 1909 penny ’ s bulk of 3.11g and diameter of 19mm.
important Varieties
Thanks to the controversy with the couturier ’ second initials and a mint error on San Francisco coins, there are five main varieties of the 1909 wheat penny .
The first base and most common diverseness is the Philadelphia coinage with no initials. The moment variety show is the Philadelphia mintage with the initials. Philadelphia mintages display no mint stigmatize .
The one-third and fourthly varieties are the San Francisco mintages with and without initials, respectively. The San Francisco coin with the initials is considered rare, only 484,000 being minted in 1909. San Francisco mintages are identified by an “ S ” below the year on the obverse .
The fifth variety show, which is likely the least coarse diverseness of 1909 wheat penny, is the result of a mint error. Minted in San Francisco, the “ S ” has been struck twice, and the original “ S ” can be seen through the irregular .
Valuing the 1909 Wheat Penny
The value of the 1909 wheat penny is dependent not only on the grad but besides the mint mark and assortment. San Francisco mintages by and large bring much higher values, as do the varieties with initials .
For Philadelphia mintages with no initials, Good to Extremely Fine grades are valued between $ 3.50 and $ 6. This increases to $ 12 in about Uncirculated, $ 18 in Uncirculated ( MS-60 ), and $ 21 in Uncirculated ( MS-63 ). Proofs may be worth vitamin a much as $ 679 .
Philadelphia mintages with the VDB initials are worth a bit more : between $ 11 and $ 18 for good to extremely Fine grades, $ 22 for Uncirculated ( MS-60 ), and $ 31 for Uncirculated ( MS-63 ). Proofs can be worth $ 2,824 !
The respect of San Francisco coins is quite a moment higher. For the mintage without initials, Good and very good grades bring a value of $ 100-110. This increases to $ 153 in Very fine, $ 231 in about Uncirculated, and $ 335 in Uncirculated ( MS-60 ).
The diverseness with the double “ S ” strike mistake is worth round $ 5-10 dollars higher at each grade than the San Francisco mintage without initials .
The San Francisco mintage with initials is the most valuable by far. good grade coins are worth $ 765, and very good grades are deserving $ 849. The prize increases dramatically to $ 1,024 in extremely Fine .
about Uncirculated coins may be worth up to $ 1,500. Lower grade Uncirculated coins are valued at $ 1,708, and and Uncirculated ( MS-63 ) grades are worth $ 2,057. In 2018, a MS-66 mark 1909-S VDB coin sold for $ 4,150 !
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