That was an unexpected find. Uncirculated set tokens are included in uncirculated coin sets produced at the U.S. Mint specifically for coin collectors. They are minted on a penny planchet, though technically carry no legal tender status and have no face value. Finding one in circulation is uncommon to say the least, and finding this one in AU+ condition is probably even less common.
The 1924 came from the same box, as did about 10 other 40’s and 50’s wheat cents, 2 Canadians, and a decent selection of AU type 60’s-80’s pennies.
One of the only negative aspects of
coin roll hunting is the infamous short roll.
More often than not you will encounter
these frustrating examples as customer wrapped rolls, though I have
now started to see bank wrapped rolls or armored service wrapped
rolls (Loomis, Brinks, etc) come up short as well. Below is a photo
of 3 rolls of nickels I picked up from a local bank. It’s not
difficult to notice that the roll in the middle is shorter than the
two on either side. That roll ended up being 3 coins short, that
being 15 cents under the expected $2.00 that should have been inside.
One of these things is not like the others. That sucks.
If you’re only picking up a few rolls
at a time, it may benefit you to visually inspect your rolls before
leaving your bank, just to ensure you are getting all that you are
paying for. This is especially true on dimes and quarters, as
a few missing coins from those denominations will add up rather
quickly, causing you to loose dollars instead of cents.
Stand the rolls up and if one or more is noticeably shorter than the others simply bring it to the attention of a teller and they will undoubtedly swap it for a different roll. Ensure you do this inside the bank before you walk out the door. Once you leave the premises the bank has no way to verify the short occurring. It’s policy, nothing personal of course. If the bank payed back every “alleged” short change, I’m sure they would go out of business.
It’s not a great situation, but be aware that you will probably come up short eventually. I generally chock it up to a entrance fee into the hunt. I know that there is always a chance that I will be out a few cents or even a few dollars in the case of a tray of customer wrapped dimes that I picked up a few weeks ago. You should be aware of this as well.
For
the sake of our hobby: If you return your coins to the bank in rolls,
ensure that your counts are accurate and that your rolls are sealed
correctly. If you pick up customer wrapped rolls from a bank, ensure
they look visually correct before you walk out of the bank.
Just what am I looking for in these rolls of pennies?
Aside from the obvious errors, wheat pennies and older, and foreign coins, that is. There is a an unimaginable number of all types of minor and major errors seen on pennies. here are some more notable ones to be on the look out for.
As a side note: There is an unfathomable amount of ground to cover when it comes to searching pennies. This article will cover Memorial reverse cents to date, i.e. 1959 and onward. A guide on Wheat reverse pennies from 1909 to 1958 may pop up fairly soon, but for now I’ll focus on what you are most likely to come across. For the purposes of this guide, I will not list every single example of DDO, DDR, or other varieties for the sake of not turning this post into a full length novel. This should be an easily digestible 5-minute read. The more well known and valuable errors will be covered in greater depth and the hand full of particularly desirable varieties will covered as well.
Small and Large Dates:
1960 Small Date
1960 Large Date over Small Date
1970-S Small Date
All 1974 pennies have the possibility of being either small or large date. No one particular mint or size has any particular value over the others. They are fun to pick out and classify but you may not hang on to every single you come across as all types are so common.
1982 and 1982-D have multiple planchet styles, date sizes, and values. This is certainly a topic worthy of further research and it may serve you well to check out this link to read more.
Repunched Mint Marks:
1960-D D/D
1961-D D/D
1987-D D/D
There are many more thought the 60’s through 80’s but the ones mentioned above are the most desired versions. If a mint mark looks a little off on a 80’s or older coin, it’s worth further inspection.
WAM and CLAM
I could not find the original source for this graph for the life of me, but it is an AMAZING resource if you go hunting for WAM’s and CLAM’s
Wide AM, or WAM as well as Close AM, or CLAM, are attributes assigned to the gap between the “A” and “M” in the word America on the reverse of Memorial cents. There are a few varieties that are more common to find than others, but all hold at least a minor premium in better conditions. The 1992 close am varieties are more desirable and generally fetch higher premiums than the wide am varieties listed below.
1992 Close AM
1992-D Close AM
1998-S Close AM (Proof Sets)
All of the Wide AM varieties will be from Philadelphia, not Denver. The 1996, 1998, and 2000 are more common and may fetch a few dollars in MS conditions. The 1999 WAM is the rarest of wide varieties and can reach hundreds of dollars if in MS conditions.
1996 Wide AM
1998 Wide AM
1999 Wide AM
1999-S Wide AM (Proof Sets)
2000 Wide AM
Doubled Die Obverse:
There are a lot of these, and still some lie in hoards and change jars undiscovered. Here are some of the better known DDO’s that you may happen across. A wise old man once told me that there is usually some type of error on every year and mint mark of penny out there, due to them being produced in such great numbers. It’s impossible to inspect billions of coins a year, so every once in a while a new error gets out into the hands of roll hunters, coin collectors, and those with more astute observational skills.
The coveted 1995 DDO. This particular coin is toned beautifully and graded as MS66 BN. Photo via PCGS.com
1963-D Doubling on the “3” in 1963. It appears as though another “3” of a different style lies below the normal 3.
1969-S Very noticeable DDO on text. There is also an over date noticeable on some varieties. The ’69-S is a quite desirable DDO.
1971 features a DDO that is most noticeable in the word “Liberty.”
1972 features multiple varieties of doubled dies. Here is a link to learn more on the many types.
1980 features a more subtle DDO that impacts “Liberty” and the date.
1983 is a unique example that features both a DDO and a DDR. The DDO is more subtle but is visible in the text of the obverse.
1984 is one of the “doubled ears” and a quite desirable one at that. Lincolns ear will appear elongated and with a ridge near the bottom of the ear lobe.
1988 features the same error as the 1984 doubled ear lobe.
1995 is one of the most coveted DDO varieties available, and features bold and very noticeable doubling in the word “Liberty.” This one is hard to miss.
1995-D houses the same style of vertical doubling in the word “Liberty,” that the 1995 Philadelphia minted coin features.
1997 is another doubled ear lobe variety that is similar to the 1984 and 1988 DDO’s previously listed.
2006, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2018-D all have more minor DDO’s that can be quite collectible and desired by coin collectors as well. More information may be found here.
Doubled Die Reverse:
1964 shows doubling on text with observable split serifs.
1966 features doubling most noticeable in the “UN” of United States as well as showcasing a fantastic example of doubled designer initials, a somewhat uncommon area for doubling to occur in.
1968-D also shows doubling in the designer initials and the words “of” and “es” in States.
1982 has a nice DDR variant on the small date variety. Here is a link to determine the difference in small vs. large dates on 1982 pennies. Here is a link on the doubled die variety shown on the same coins.
1983 has a quite bold and noticeable DDR seen on the text of the coin.
1994 features one of my favorite DDR examples on any coin. The 3 rightmost pillars on the Lincoln memorial show bold doubling and appear much wider than the remaining unaffected pillars.
One of the most recent desired DDR’s is on the 2011 penny. There is notable thickness on “United States of America,” “ONE CENT,” and initials.
Other Errors:
The Cherrypickers Guide made the 1969-D penny famous for the missing initial error. This error likely appeared due to over polished dies, similar to half dollars of the same era. There are missing initials from 1969 up the mid 1970’s on Denver minted pennies as well, and a quick visual inspection is the best way to locate these errors.
Die clashes, lamination errors, blank and clipped planchets, and the very rare brockage errors are also potentially hidden away in penny rolls. These are errors that may occur on any year or mint mark, as well as any denomination of coin, so it’s best to be familiar with them prior to ever cracking open a roll.
Here is an outstanding resource on various mint errors that may occur on any coin.
Here is an amazing resource for Lincoln Pennies that covers everything I have touched on above, as well as much more information.
Nickels are often overlooked by new and experienced hunters. Pennies are easy to search, with their varieties being distinct and easily noticeable. Dimes are similar in ease of search, albeit boring to sift through, and hold the potential of silver payouts. Whereas quarters are unlikely to yield silver but offer many design errors and varieties and the most visually interesting varieties with state and national park reverses filling a good percentage of every roll opened.
Nickels are however more than just 5 cent coins, and actually hold a rich and fascinating history. This article will be a little different than my recent posts on dimes and pennies, not containing as much coin history and being more focused on actual years and errors to seek. If you wish to learn more on the coin, check this link for more.
Key Dates and Semi Key Dates:
Unlike dimes that see a majority of their key dates prior to the 1950’s, as well as quite uncommon year and mint mark combinations of wheat pennies, many key date nickels are still in circulation because they are not made of silver like key date dimes and are not as easily recognized like the reverse of a wheat penny. The wheat ear reverse being a visual characteristic that often makes wheat cents a common coin pulled from circulation, even by those whom who do not normally collect coins. Key date Jefferson nickels appear visually identical to those minted up until 2003.
The Key Dates: These are Jefferson Nickels that were minted in numbers below 10,000,000.
1938-D
1938-S
1939-D
1939-S
1949-S
1950
1950-D
1951-S
1955
The Semi-key Dates: These Jefferson Nickels feature production numbers of more that 10,000,000 but less than 25,000,000. These semi key dates are more common, sometimes much more so, than the actual key dates, but in my opinion are worth separating and saving.
1938
1942-D
1943-D
1944-S
1946-S
1947-S
1948-S
1951-D
1952-S
1953-S
1958
As a side note: I personally save any Jefferson Nickel that was minted prior to 1960. Some collectors pull anything prior to 1970, and while that is a perfectly fine way to collect, it is worth noting that for various reasons there are more nickels featuring the date of 1964 than any other year, ever.
Both ’64 and ’64-D nickels were minted far past the year on the obverse. They were produced all the way in to mid 1966 due to the mint’s reformulation of other denominations of coins containing silver. In this authors opinion, 1964 Nickels are worth keeping only in fantastic shape, as they are, to date, the most commonly minted nickel with well over 1,000,000,000 coins made in both Philadelphia and Denver for a total of over 2 billion made. That’s billion, with a B.
War Nickels:
The reverse of a silver War Nickel
During WWII, specifically 1942-1945 the Mint began using an alloy featuring 35% silver to produce nickels. These, as the heading above indicates, are most commonly referred to as “War Nickels.” The easiest way to positively identify a War nickel is the oversize mint mark above the Monticello on the reverse of the coin. If it’s 1942, 1943, 1944, or 1945 and has a large “P,” “D,” or “S,” above the building, it’s silver. This is worth noting because there were a number of no mintmark 1942 nickels made in Philadelphia before the alloy change was finalized, meaning not every 1942 nickel contains silver. As a side note, many community members have often reported that nickels are actually the most consistent source of locating silver reliably throughout their roll hunting endeavors. It may be 35%, but it IS silver.
Buffalo Nickels:
The obverse and reverse of a Buffalo Nickel
From 1913 to 1938 the 5 cent piece featured a Native American mans face on the obverse, and a buffalo on the reverse. These nickels are almost exclusively called “buffalo nickels” by collectors. The term “Indian head nickel” is generally not used with nickels and if heard is a most commonly a misnomer. Due to design flaws, there were many raised elements of buffalo nickels that quickly wore off of the coin, most notably the date. This encourages the need for the term “dateless” buffalo. The same issue can be found with Standing Liberty Quarters of the same era. I would personally recommend keeping any and all buffalo nickel, save for the 2005 bison reverse Westward Journey examples that you are likely to come across when searching nickels. Buffalo’s feature their own series of key dates, though I will not list them here as you are much less likely to come across them while roll hunting. Here is a link to more information on buffalo nickels, their values, and their key dates via Apmex.
Liberty Head or the “V Nickel”:
The obverse and reverse of a Liberty Head, or “V”, Nickel.
From 1883 to 1912 (technically 1913, but those are another story) the mint produced the V nickel. These are scare in common circulation today, but are plentiful and generally inexpensive in coin shops and online. I only mention them here because it is possible to locate them in circulation, just extremely unlikely. For more information on the Liberty Head nickel, check out this article on Wikipedia.
Errors:
There are a lot. It is worth noting that the beginner numismatist or coin roll hunter may mistakenly identify the quite common “machine doubling” seen on many years and mint marks of nickels for the genuinely rare doubled die errors that are much more scarce among all denominations of coins. Here is a great resource that helped me learn the difference. Stay tuned for a more in depth article on the various types of doubling. It is worth noting that due to the composition of metals that comprise the nickel, the planchets are more soft and malleable than other denominations of coins, thus leading to far more common instances of machine doubling and common errors in the flow of metals into the dies. It is not entirely uncommon for die deterioration to be present or even prevalent either. This deterioration may be observed as extra wide lettering, loss of finer details such as the “crispness” of letters and hairlines, as well as lettering near the rim of the coin being connected with fat globs of metal. While these common errors generally do not add any value to a coin, I tend to keep the most extreme examples for reference. Here is a list of more valuable and rare errors to be on the look out for in your Jefferson nickels. This list is based off of my personal search guide that I use while hunting, and may be expanded upon or shortened based on your personal preferences. I will include a couple of fantastic resources on DDO’s, DDR’s, and other common nickel errors toward the end of the guide.
These are organized by chronological year as opposed to by type of error for ease of sorting and searching.
1939 Doubled Die Reverse. Doubling can be seen in the words “Monticello,” as wells as “Five Cents.”
1942 D/D Repunched Mintmark. This RPM shows as a horizontal “D” underneath the normal, vertical “D” in it’s standard location.
1943/2 Overdate. This shows as the number “3” in 1943 being stamped over the number “2” in 1942.
1943 Doubled Die Obverse. This DDO shows as doubling on Jefferson’s eye.
1945 Doubled Die Reverse. This DDR shows as similar to the 1939 DDR where doubling can be seen in the words “Monticello,” as wells as “Five Cents.”
1949-D/S Repunched Mintmark.
1954-S/D Repunched Mintmark.
1955-D/S Repunched Mintmark.
1956 Doubled Die Obverse.
1960 Doubled Die Reverse. Doubling shows in “E Pluribus Unum,” and “United States of America.”
1961-D/D Repunched Mintmark.
As stated before, 1964 was a date that saw over 1 billion of both Philadelphia and Denver minted coins made. With such production numbers, it should come as no surprise that there are many errors to be found on these coins in particular. There are 2 main doubled dies that I personally check for, though there are many more that I will not list here. They may be found on the websites that I will list later in this article.
1964 Doubled die Obverse. Doubling appears on “In God We Trust.”
1964-D/D RPM appears as a wide mint mark with generally noticeable split serifs. It is worth noting that these particular errors are man made and can vary greatly in both value and prevalence. There are some examples of this RPM that are noticeable with even the most untrained naked eye, and some examples that would appear seemingly innocuous to well seasoned numismatists.
1975-D Misplaced Mint Mark. This is a fantastic and quite desirable error, and though rather rare, is definitely worth looking for. The mint mark will appear almost touching the “5” in 1975. This should be noticeable with the naked eye.
1981-D Doubled Die Reverse. Doubling appears most notable on “E Pluribus Unum.”
1984 Doubled Die Reverse/ This DDR is again similar to the 1939 and 1945 DDR where doubling can be seen in the words “Monticello,” as wells as “Five Cents.”
1996-D Doubled Die Obverse. Doubling seen on mint mark and appears similar to a RPM.
1999 Doubled Die Obverse. Doubling may be seen on mint mark and appears similar to a RPM. It is noteworthy that 1999 Philadelphia minted nickels are notorious for machine doubling and die deterioration making this particular error quite uncommon for a legitimate example. I have nearly half a roll of machine doubled 1999P’s to use as reference when inspecting a potential candidate.
2000 Doubled Die Reverse. Doubling is most notable in “E Pluribus Unum,” and the word “Monticello.”
2004 and 2005 Westward Journey errors. There are quite a few of these and a few particular examples may command quite the monetary premium. I feel that I could not do some of the more subtle indicators of these errors justice, and will instead provide a link to a wonderful resource on these particular examples.
The following 4 are all very modern examples of doubled die reverse errors, all appearing quite similar. The 2008, 2014, 2015, and 2016 Philadelphia mint nickels all share a common DDR that appears as lines through the mid to upper section of the door frame on the Monticello building. If you wish to cherrypick this particular variety, I recommend further research as these can be quite tricky to spot.
It may be an odd thought, but it is still too soon to tell if there are many noteworthy examples of 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019 coins. There are many already that have been detected and cataloged online but there are likely many more that are yet to be discovered that still float through circulation, or even still sit in the vaults of the mint awaiting distribution.
The aforementioned resources;
Bookmark these.
Variety Vista is ground zero for all things error related, especially on older examples of coins. This site covers more than just nickels as well, touching on all denominations common in circulation.
Brian’s Variety Coins is a great nickel focused website that goes in depth with many community submitted errors and attributions. The provided link is the one that most will desire as it lists all known errors for each year listed. If you are interested in going more in depth on the many 1964 errors that I mentioned before, this is certainly the place to do so.
Unbelievable! How fitting for the day I post about searching dimes. I grabbed a tray of dimes from a local branch on a whim this morning and this 1953 was peeking at me from the end of the roll! I’ll update with any other finds once I get through the rolls.
EDIT: Nothing else in the rolls. One silver is better than none though!
PLEASE NOTE: This article is by no means exhaustive, nor is intended to be. I will not mention many doubled dies here as there are not many that are worth looking for to general collectors. I will include further resources for these errors at the end of the article to allow you to decide if they are something you would like to search for in your hunting adventures.
First things first.
Dimes are pretty forgiving for newer searchers. As far as modern mint errors are concerned there are fewer among dimes than any other denomination save for half dollars. This is a double edged sword however, because while coins worthy of securing and saving are easily identifiable by visual inspection, these examples are not common to come across.
Searching a a few rolls or even a box of dimes is straightforward. Silver is easily identified my the rim or edge of the coin, and the two major varieties that most dime searchers are seeking are simple to identify by a quick glance at the obverse. There are doubled die obverse and reverse varieties in the 10¢ coins, though they are quite mild compared to the bold doubling commonly seen on pennies and some nickels. The DDO/DDR dimes generally do not command a sizable premium that other coins do unless they display bold, very noticeable doubling that can be seen with the naked eye.
All of this makes dimes a great starting point for the roll hunter new to the hobby, but also creates a paradoxical lull in searching. The proverbial electricity from searching dimes primarily comes from finding silver. Unwrapping a roll and inspecting edges is the most efficient method of identifying silver coinage, and generally takes only a moment to achieve. Once that is done, you either found a silver coin, or you did not. Unfortunately no amount of closely examining each and every coin is going to suddenly alter the metallic composition of the pile of coinage in front of you, with the only exception being alchemy. As a side note, if you DO possess the alchemical knowledge to transmute copper and nickel into silver, please email me via the contact page. I would love to work with you.
It may be heresy to say this, but dimes are pretty boring to hunt.
Don’t get me wrong, they can indeed pay off very well with silver, but there are far more clad dimes in a box. In fact, as a bit of anecdotal evidence, the average silver to clad ratio that I see from fellow community members is about one silver per box of dimes. That is an average of 1 silver for every 2,499 clad coins. This ratio is far from guaranteed however, as I have found multiple silvers in just a mere 10 rolls before, as well as finding absolutely nothing while opening several dozen rolls in a row.
So what are we looking for in a roll of dimes?
Silver coinage.
More specifically any dime dated 1964 or earlier. This is the proverbial bread and butter, the peanut butter to the jelly, the key to the heart of any hunter looking for the subdued colored metallic stuff.
Do you see the silver in the middle of the roll? These plastic bank rolls are uncommon but make finding silver effortless.
The absolute easiest way to identify silver is by unwrapping the roll while maintaining the mass of coins in a straight row, and inspecting the edge. The older silver coins lack the brownish red copper core layer seen on all dimes and quarters minted from 1965 to date. Silver will generally jump out and be quite noticeable, though particularly old or weathered coins may be more subdued in luster and blend in a little more easily. I have personally, on more than one occasion, missed a silver edge only to discover it while inspecting the remainder of the roll. Another reason to pay meticulous attention while roll hunting.
The obverse and reverse of a Mercury Dime.
You may, on occasion, locate something older than a Roosevelt. Generally a Mercury dime, but there is a minute and near astronomical chance that you will come across a Barber dime or something even older. Mercury dimes were minted from 1916 to 1945 and are a commonly hoarded form of junk silver among silver stackers and coin collectors alike, hence their scarcity in general circulation. That being said, if you search enough dimes there is an somewhat decent possibility that you may still luck out and find one. The first silver dime I ever found roll hunting was an absolutely destroyed 1945 Mercury dime.
To calculate the melt value of silver dimes that you have found, I personally recommend the website Coinapp and their silver melt calculator. This is useful for calculating melt values of your entire collection of silver coinage as well, including quarters, half dollars, war nickels, and silver dollars. The calculator bases it’s pricing off of that particular days silver spot price, but you may also manually enter spot prices to calculate values based on potential silver spot fluctuations. Do bear in mind that this is merely the value of the silver in your coins and not indicative of potential numismatic premiums.
For example, as of today, the silver melt value of a 1916-D Mercury dime is $1.08. The intrinsic numismatic value of a 1916-D Mercury dime, even in poor conditions, is several hundred dollars all the way up to several tens of thousands of dollars in Mint State conditions.
A Few Noteworthy Errors.
As stated above, there are not many noteworthy examples of errors on modern dimes, especially the clad variety. The three most desirable doubled dies occur on silver dimes of the 1960’s
Doubled Die Obverse:
1960 Philadelphia minted Proof DDO: There is noticeable doubling of “IN GOD WE TRUST” and the date. More information may be found here on usacoinbook.com’s in depth page on the error. Bear in mind that finding silver in circulation is uncommon, and finding a proof is rare, so this particular error is unfathomably unlikely to be found in circulation.
Doubled Die Reverse:
1963 Philadelphia Minted Proof DDR: There is noticeable doubling in the text of the reverse. More information may be found here on usacoinbook.com’s in depth page on the error. As with the 1960 Proof DDO, this one is a silver proof and equally unlikely to be found in circulation.
1964-D DDR: This is a year and mintmark that is actually possible to catch ion the wild. In general, most of my silver finds are from the year 1964, and due to my geographic location I tend to find more Denver Minted coins than Philadelphia. The error lies on the reverse of the coin and shows doubling on many aspects of the reverse. More information may be found here on usacoinbook.com’s page on the error.
Missing Mintmarks:
1968, 1970, 1975, 1983 proof lacking “S” mint mark:
These are quite easy to identify, not by what is observable on the coin, but rather by what is missing. Please note that these errors are only on proof coins. All proof sets were supposed to contain an “S” mint mark for San Francisco minted proof coins. 1968 being the first year that proof sets were minted in San Fransisco.
1982 missing mint mark:
Another example of a missing mintmark would be the 1982 business strike dime intended for circulation. These examples are easily identified, though no exact numbers are on file regarding the actual numbers of these coins that were struck in error.
Scarce release:
The near infamous 1996W
The West Point Mint produced around 1.4 Million dimes in 1996 that were not intended for circulation. These special release dimes were minted for special edition collectors sets, making them extremely uncommon to find in circulation, though it has happened on occasion. Here is a link to more information via PCGS Coin Facts.
For even more information on Dime errors and varieties, check out Variety Vista’s page on Roosevelt Dimes.
Two million coins each of all five 2019-W America the Beautiful quarter dollars are being struck for release into general circulation for the public to locate in commerce. Two 2019-W coins are already heading to circulation in selected cities nationwide and should be in circulation in a month or so. The first wave of the first two 2019-W quarter dollars, one commemorating Lowell National Historical Park and the other American Memorial Park, were being shipped April 1 to select cities in 29 states. The coins will likely begin to appear in circulation within four to six weeks, according to U.S. Mint officials.
Via Coinworld.com
Please visit this link to learn more about the 2019 West Point Minted quarters.
Via Silver Seeker on YouTube. Check his channel out!
Want to learn why this is a big deal? For more about the “Fort Knox of Silver” aka the West Point Mint, click here.
Our lowest denomination of modern circulating US coinage. A mere palm full of these brownish red coins appearing as a bountiful treasure trove to our younger siblings, nieces, nephews, and children. They are commonly found jingling inside of pant pockets and coin purses, hoarded inside of car cupholders and stacked neatly on bank teller trays across the US.
For general purposes, I’m going to primarilyfocus on the small cent in this article. These are the examples that you will still find in circulation today.
The Origin Of The Cent: 1793-1909
The US Mint, if you could realistically call it that in 1793, produced cents and half cents exclusively that year. The Flowing Hair Chain Cent, Flowing Hair Wreath Cent, and Liberty Cap Cent, all produced in 1793, marked the beginning of an era of United States minted one cent copper coins. The coins were larger than modern Pennies, and are in fact most often referred to as the “large cent” in most Numismatic circles.
The obverse of an 1857 Flying Eagle Cent
The more modern “small cent” initially saw the light of day in 1856 with the introduction of the Flying Eagle design. This particular coin was only minted for three short years until 1858. There were only a mere 2,000 specimens produced in 1856, making it extremely rare. A Good-4 graded 1856 Flying Eagle cent is likely to be appraised at several thousand dollars. If you happen to stumble across the unfathomably rare Mint State specimen of the same year, you would see value ranging in the tens of thousands of dollars.
Following the Flying Eagle cent, we have one of the more beloved coin designs of somewhat recent history.
The obverse of a 1904 Indian Head Penny
The Indian Head penny was introduced in 1859, immediately following the removal of the Flying Eagle cent in 1858. The Indian Head has saw a couple of different metallic compositions including Copper-Nickle during its introductory year, to copper dominant bronze for the remainder of it’s life span. There were a few different varieties of Indian Heads minted, with reverse redesigns and obverse detail upgrades included in the mix. Though it is extremely uncommon to find these 110+ year old coins floating around in circulation, it does occasionally happen. If you do find yourself fortunate enough to come into possession of an Indian Head by cracking open penny rolls, or decide to start collecting them by purchasing individual coins, here is a link to a fantastic photo heavy database to assist with identification of common mint errors and varieties.
It is worth noting that both Indian Heads as well as Lincoln cents were minted in the year 1909. The 1909-S Indian Head is the lowest minted Indian head of all, being one of only two year and mint mark combinations that saw production runs of less than 1,000,000 coins.
Lincoln Enters The Obverse: 1909-DATE
The Lincoln cent is the bread and butter of hunting Pennies. The familiar face that you will be met with every single time you eagerly unwrap, break open, or otherwise tear into a paper wrapped cluster of cents. The very same coin that we have all found lying on a sidewalk or parking lot, flipped to make a seemingly impossible decision, or hoarded into a jar for rainy day usage.
The obverse and reverse of a Wheat Penny
Lincoln’s portrait has graced the penny longer than any other obverse design in the history of U.S. Minted Coinage. The Lincoln obverse came to fruition in 1909 to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Lincoln’s birth in 1809, and later in 2009 there were four different reverse designs released to celebrate the 200 year anniversary of his birth.
Design Varieties and Metallic Compositions of the Lincoln Cent.
There are a few other distinctions in
the variety of Lincoln cents that you should be aware of.
Design Varieties:
1909 – 1958 Wheat Ear reverse, commonly called a Wheat penny or “Wheatie”.
1959 – 2008 Lincoln Memorial reverse. This is probably the most well known reverse in the series of Lincoln Cents
2009 Lincoln Centennial cent featuring 4 different reverse designs to celebrate Lincolns 200th birthday.
2010-DATE Lincoln Shield Cent Reverse.
Metallic Composition:
It is worth noting that you will often see the terms “bronze” and “copper” used to refer to various types of Pennies. The difference in Pennies that are referred to as bronze versus copper are differentiated by the addition of a small percentage of tin in the metals composition. If Tin is included, it is bronze, if it is excluded, the resulting coin is referred to as a copper cent.
1909-1942 Pennies were made from Bronze, or an alloy primarily consisting of 95% copper, and 5% Tin and Zinc. These examples should weigh 3.11 grams, with minor fluctuations based on wear and minor tolerances in weight at the Mint.
1943 featured a special single year release of zinc coated steel cents. These were a special mintage produced solely during 1943 in an effort to conserve copper for military infrastructure during WWII. It is unfortunately not too uncommon to find these specimens in absolutely horrid condition due to the zinc plating wearing thin and allowing the steel underneath to rust and corrode.
1944-1946 featured a unique twist. Spent shell casings from carious US Military training facilities were secured by the mint, and then melted down and turned into pennies. These examples will also weigh 3.11 grams, with minor fluctuations based on wear and minor tolerances in weight at the Mint.
1947 resumed the then-standard bronze composition of the coin until 1962. These examples should weigh 3.11 grams, with minor fluctuations based on wear and minor tolerances in weight at the Mint.
At some point during 1962 the Mint removed the small percentage of tin from the metal constructing the penny. At this point many refer to Pennies as copper as opposed to bronze. This formula remained in place for twenty more years until 1982.
1982 is when it all changed.
The same materials that had composed the penny since 1962 were reformulated. Copper and zinc were both still used in conjunction, just in vastly different proportions.
It is worth noting that the inner core of the modern post-1982 cent is 99.2% zinc and 0.8% copper, which is then coated in copper plating for an overall total composition of 97.5% zinc with 2.5% copper. In doing further research you may see zinc cents quoted as either combination of values. For example the Official Red Book of U.S. Coins quotes 99.2% Zinc and 0.8% copper whereas most websites will refer to the composition as being 97.5% zinc with 2.5% copper. Both are correct.
So Why Would The Mint Do Such A Thing?
Copper prices were rising in the early 1980’s and the Mint was paying nearly a penny, if not more so, to produce a penny. A cut in profit that was not good for an institution that thrives by keeping all costs as low as possible. Do bear in mind that many times pennies have cost the mint well over 1 cent to produce. Most notably for over the last decade all pennies have cost the mint around 1.5 cents to produce. There is however a large difference in the above-face-value production costs of today and those in the early 80’s. Currently the higher cost associated with production lies within the actual production process of the coins as opposed to the 1982 reformulation being due to the higher prices of raw materials being used to produce the blank planchets. Paying 2 cents for the copper content of the planchet before even factoring in machining costs, labor, housing bagged coins, transportation and logistical distribution factors. The cost adds up quickly.
A Short Rant On Zinc pennies.
This seemingly insignificant adjustment to the composition of metal was made in an effort to keep material costs down and theoretically increase the circulating lifespan of the penny. The issue with zinc pennies is that they in fact did the opposite. As a bit of anecdotal evidence: In every single box of pennies I have ever hunted, an average of two or tree absolutely annihilated zinc pennies find their way into a tray of destroyed coinage that I keep on my desk. Deep gouges, bent coins, and zinc rot. I have also come across more than a few examples of literally unrecognizable horrors that are distinguished as pennies by mere color and diameter alone.
For an even more exhaustive dive into the history of our one cent pieces, check out this article on Wikipedia.
The Coin Roll Hunter 