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.
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.
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 