1950 Penny Value: Wheat Cents, Red Grades and Varieties

A circulated 1950, 1950-D or 1950-S wheat penny is worth about 2 to 4 cents as of October 2026, and an ordinary uncirculated one about $1 to $2. Red coins are where the money is: PCGS lists a red MS65 1950 at $25 for Philadelphia, $20 for Denver and $22 for San Francisco, and a red MS66 at $110, $38 and $32, while CopperCoins runs lower at $11.50-16 in MS65. MS67 red coins have sold for $372-1,170 (1950), $810-1,200 (1950-D) and $240-439 (1950-S), and a 1950-D in PCGS MS68 red brought $20,400 at Heritage in January 2025.

Guide figures are not auction records, and red 1950 cents in MS67 and higher are scarce, with only a few sales a year. The varieties for these three mints are mostly minor die breaks and repunched mint marks, so a careful check decides whether a coin is an ordinary wheat cent or something worth a closer look.

Quick answer

• A worn 1950, 1950-D or 1950-S wheat penny is worth about 2 to 4 cents, as of October 2026.
• Brown uncirculated coins are $1.94 (1950), $1.08 (1950-D) and $1.40 (1950-S) in the Coinstudy 2026 table.
• PCGS guide: red MS65 $25 (1950), $20 (1950-D), $22 (1950-S); red MS66 $110, $38, $32; red MS67 $1,200, $900, $450. CopperCoins lists red MS65 at $12.75, $16 and $11.50 and MS66 at $63, $39.25 and $23.
• Realized sales: 1950 MS67RD $372-1,170 and MS67+ $4,080-10,575 (2019-2025); 1950-D MS67RD $810-1,200 and MS68RD $20,400 (Heritage, January 2025); 1950-S MS67RD $240-439 and MS68RD $7,800-10,800.
• A BIE die break on Liberty earns a small premium; most repunched mint marks are minor.

How do you value a 1950 wheat penny, step by step?

Confirm the wheat reverse, read the mint mark, judge wear and color, then check the varieties that are worth a second look.

1. Confirm it is a wheat cent. Turn it over. Two wheat ears frame the words ONE CENT on the back. The 1950 is a wheat cent, so the reverse should show the wheat ears, not the Lincoln Memorial.
2. Read the mint mark. It sits under the date on the front. No letter means Philadelphia, which struck about 272.6 million cents in 1950. A D means Denver, which struck 334,950,000. An S means San Francisco, which struck 118,505,000.
3. Judge wear. Look at Lincoln's cheekbone and jaw, and at the lines of the wheat stalks on the back. Flat, smooth high points mean circulated, and a circulated coin of any mint is worth about 2 to 4 cents.
4. Judge color. Uncirculated coins are graded red, red-brown or brown. The guide's value rises sharply with red color and strong luster, so a red coin deserves a second look even if the rest of the jar is brown.
5. Check Liberty for a die break. Under a loupe, look at LIBERTY for a short extra line that makes the letters look like an I between the B and the E. Coinstudy calls this a BIE cent and notes that it is often found on 1950s coins.
6. Look at the mint mark. Denver and San Francisco 1950s coins have many repunched mint marks. Look for a second, offset outline of the D or S. Most are minor, but a clear doubled mint mark is the one to check against a variety list.
7. Rule out ordinary damage. Machine doubling, a rim nick and a cleaned surface all look like something else at first. A cleaned coin looks bright, flat and unnatural, and sells for little above a circulated coin.
8. Price from sold results for the same mint, grade and color. A guide figure is a starting point, not a sale.

What is a 1950 penny worth?

Prices as of October 2026. Guide values are PCGS CoinFacts, with CopperCoins in brackets where it differs; sales are PCGS-recorded auction results. Guide values are not sales.

The Philadelphia mintage is 272,635,000 business strikes; the 272,686,386 figure some sources give adds the 51,386 proofs. The Coinstudy 2026 table lists lower uncirculated values, $1.94 for Philadelphia, $1.08 for Denver and $1.40 for San Francisco, so an average brown coin sells somewhere in that range.

PCGS calls the 1950 Philadelphia coin very difficult to find in MS64 and higher and says fewer than 20 exist in MS67 with none finer, which is why MS67+ coins have brought $4,080-10,575. The 1950-D is the common one but a true scarcity above MS67, and the single MS68 red sale of $20,400 in January 2025 is the top result for the date.

What are the 1950 varieties worth checking?

Most 1950 varieties are minor, and the guide does not give a dollar value for any of them. The entries below are the ones collectors look for, and each needs an attribution before you price it.

• BIE die break on LIBERTY. A die break that creates the look of an extra I between the B and the E. Coinstudy says these are often found on 1950s coins and are "worth a small premium" today, with no dollar figure.
• Doubled die obverses and reverses. CopperCoins counts 5 Philadelphia doubled die obverses and 2 Philadelphia doubled die reverses, plus 5 Denver doubled die obverses and no San Francisco ones. Its designations, such as 1950D-1DO-002, are listed, but the page does not give their values in the text I could read.
• Repunched mint marks. CopperCoins counts 40 Denver and 47 San Francisco repunched mint marks, far more than any other variety on these coins. Most are minor, and the guide does not price them. Lincoln Cent Resource's repunched mint mark list has no 1950 entries.

Check any coin you think is a doubled die against the designation list on CopperCoins, and then get attribution before you pay a premium.

Is a 1950 penny worth grading?

Only if you honestly believe it reaches red MS66 or higher: full luster, even orange color, and no spots, nicks or hairlines in the fields under a 5x loupe. At the PCGS red MS65 figures of $20 to $25, grading fees and shipping usually cost more than the coin adds. A red MS66 Philadelphia coin, at $110 in the PCGS guide, is the level where a submission starts to make sense, and a Denver or San Francisco coin needs to be an MS67 candidate. Check current PCGS and NGC fees on their websites before you send anything. Our coin grading scale guide explains what separates MS65 from MS66.

A worked example

Say you open a coffee can of wheat cents and find a bright 1950-D with a few darker spots near the rim. The color is mostly orange-red, and under a loupe LIBERTY shows a short extra line between the B and the E, which could be a BIE die break.

The spots mean it would grade red-brown or red with spots, so the realistic guide figure sits well below the MS65 red price of $16. The die break earns a small premium at most, and the rest of the can, with worn and brown coins, is worth about 2 to 4 cents each. Sorting by mint mark first and then pulling out only the red coins keeps the search short, and the rest of the can can go back into the roll. If you want to be sure of the die break, compare it with a second 1950 coin under the same light before you show it to a variety specialist.

Common mistakes

• Pricing a brown coin from the red column. Most 1950s are worth a few dollars at most, and the red figures need red color.
• Expecting a big premium for the BIE. The guide gives a small premium only, with no fixed dollar figure.
• Treating every repunched mint mark as valuable. Repunched marks are common on the Denver and San Francisco coins, and most are minor.
• Pricing from the MS67 column. Only a few MS67 red 1950 cents sell each year, and the four- and five-figure results are for PCGS MS67+ and MS68 coins.
• Cleaning the coin. It strips the original color, which decides the red price; see should you clean old coins.
• Assuming Denver is always scarcer. Denver struck 334,950,000 cents against Philadelphia's 272,635,000, and in red MS66 and MS67 the Philadelphia coin is the scarcer and more valuable one.

How WorthPic reads 1950 penny photos

WorthPic runs on the newest and most capable AI model available, tuned for exactly this kind of identification. From photos of both sides it reads the mint mark under the date, confirms the wheat reverse and judges wear on Lincoln's cheek and the wheat lines. It estimates color and looks for a BIE die break in LIBERTY and any doubled mint mark, separating these from ordinary damage where the photo allows. It then gives an honest value range in US dollars with a most likely figure, explains what drives it, and says which close-up would settle a doubt. It cannot judge a red MS65 from a phone photo, and it cannot confirm a doubled die from a blurred photo. It identifies and estimates. It does not authenticate, grade or appraise.

What to photograph

• The front and back straight on, in even daylight.
• The date and the mint mark under it, close up and sharp.
• LIBERTY, close up, to show any die break or doubling.
• The wheat ears on the back, to show how far the lines are worn.
• For a bright coin, one shot that shows the true color without glare.

When to get it looked at in person

A worn 1950 of any mint needs no expert, and a coin shop can sort a roll of common cents in minutes. For a red coin that looks like MS65 or better, or a Denver or San Francisco coin with a clear doubled mint mark, show it to a variety specialist first, then send it to PCGS or NGC for attribution and grading. For the rest of a jar, start with what pennies are worth money, and for the full run of wheat cents, read our wheat penny value guide.

Sources

• Wikipedia: Lincoln cent: the bronze composition from 1909 to 1982, 95 percent copper at 3.11 grams.
• PCGS CoinFacts: 1950 1C, RD, 1950-D 1C, RD and 1950-S 1C, RD: mintages, guide values by grade, the MS67 scarcity notes and the MS67 to MS68 auction records.
• CopperCoins: 1950 Lincoln cent guide: guide values by grade and the variety counts.
• Coinstudy: 1950 penny value: the 2026 circulated and uncirculated table by mint, and the BIE die break note.
• Lincoln Cent Resource: doubled dies: its doubled die list, which has no 1950 entries.