The wheat penny may appear to be no more than pocket rubbish until it is suddenly focused with just a few tiny details. Minted between 1909 and 1958, the Lincoln Wheat cent is one of the most recognized and one of the least recognized American coins: two stalks of wheat on the back, Abraham Lincoln on the front, and is one of the most undervalued.
It is not nostalgia only that it is appealing. The series has a few dates and mistakes, the history, the short supply and minting peculiarities colliding, to produce coins that are handled quite differently than the common cents that still appear in jars and heirloom tins.
Majority of the wheat pennies still circulate in low values. It is not to presuppose that all old cents are windfalls, but to be acquainted with the signs that may warrant the closer examination.
1. A first-year design with a famous set of initials
Lincoln cent originated in 1909 when President Theodore Roosevelt contracted Victor David Brenner, a sculptor, to make a new design in the memory of the 100 th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln. The first designs bore boldly on the reverse the initials V.D.B., a decision which was attacked and soon afterwards the initials were taken off, only to be renewed in 1918 in a less obvious location beneath the shoulder of Lincoln. The most notorious award of that initial scandal is the 1909-S VDB, having a San Francisco mintmark and minted 484,000. Its popularity also resulted in it drawing fakes and that is why authentication advice is usually centered about the location and form of the mintmark including the fact that there were only 4 obverse dies used on genuine pieces.
2. The mintmark that can add (or erase) a story
The mintmarks on wheat pennies included Philadelphia (no mintmark), Denver (D) and San Francisco (S). Even a single letter beneath the date can cause a coin to change to common to purposely scarce, particularly in lower-mint years. Some of the dates that are recurring to collectors are 1914-D, 1931-S and the 1922 No D, which was an error issue with Denver coins since the mintmark was not printed. Mintmarks are tiny and easy to change, and thus they are a frequent deception target as well. The notorious example of this is the 1909-S VDB: the insertion of the S can be visually used to replicate a critical date, though the coin at the bottom actually started as something much more mundane.
3. A one-year metal switch that made 1943 unforgettable
In 1943, the U.S. Mint replaced cents that were made of copper and alloy with cents made of zinc and steel, and thus, the pennies of that year were bright and silvery in appearance, which usually fades to gray due to wear. Direct consequence of war-time strain on resources, the change also resulted in one of the most renowned rarities of the series: few cents bearing the 1943 date but struck on unused copper planchets. It is widely estimated that the total number of authentic pieces is between 10 and 15 in all mints and collectors usually begin with basic screening: a genuine cent of 1943 copper is nonmagnetic and weighs approximately 3.11 grams.
4. The “reverse mistake” that produced 1944 steel cents
As the Mint reverted to a copper alloy in 1944, a number of steel planchetes evidently were still in line of production. The outcome: 1944-dated wheat cents which are steel-colored, instead of copper-colored. Such wrong planchet coins belong to the same camp of interest as the 1943 copper error, since the identification of the story can be made by a glance, provided that the surface color of the coin is of the same metal as it should be of the incorrect year. Assumption is the big risk as in 1943 copper. Any change of color can be unusual and be either the work of plating or a cause of environmental harm or even intentional adjustment, meaning that the initial observation is merely a signal to do the test carefully and accurately identify the correctness of the findings by a professional.
5. Doubling that can be seen without a microscope
All super star wheat penny are not of metal composition. Among the most common types gathered are as a result of die errors that result in doubled lettering. The 1955 Doubled Die Obverse is the icon of the people: the date and inscriptions are dramatically doubled on the surface which is easily visible with the naked eye, and the cent is not a coin, but the one that is regularly picked out in collections.
A third type, the 1958 Doubled Die Obverse, is much rarer known and is considered an elite rarity. These coins are worth the close attention, particularly where the doubling is so vigorous, as to be easily detected in common daylight.
6. Condition that matters more than most people expect
Wheat pennies are usually graded and this is what either makes or breaks a coin into either a keepsake or a holder. Lincoln with sharp hair, nice wheat lines, good fields and retained luster can make the difference between a typical date in nice condition and a coin that can be hunted by a collector. On the same date, two objects may act as one, according to the wear and surface quality. This is why so many owners resort to third-party grading: it does not add any rarity, however it can establish authenticity, standardize condition and prevent the subsequent damage of handling a coin.
7. The counterfeit problem that follows the most desirable dates
The counterfeits are where there is concentration of demand. The 1909-S VDB is commonly modified and certain diagnostics are centered around minor yet significant tells such as the serifs and location of the mint mark and also the appearance of the initials themselves, e.g., a slight slant in the “B” of VDB which is sometimes lost in altered coins. 1943 copper cents are also subjected to the same pressure of fakes: copper-plating steel cents or changing dates. Odd items, as one of our fellow auction professionals has warned, are never set aside but do not make them rare or very valuable and this is a lesson in that, unusual, is a beginning and not an end.
The true worth of a wheat penny can be found in a letter beneath the date, a metal reacting to a magnet, a word used twice, or the sharpness of a word. The journalism is tedious and methodical, less treasure-hunt than inspection. To the majority of them the payoff is not a big payoff but a better understanding of what these small coins will bring onboard: design choices, production tradeoffs, and the protracted existence of errors that will not be detected by the Mint.
