A circulated 1964 penny is worth one cent as of late 2026. The Mint struck more than 6.4 billion Lincoln cents dated 1964 at Philadelphia, Denver and San Francisco, and they are still easy to find in change. The coin is 95 percent copper, so it holds about 2 to 3 cents of metal, but melting cents is illegal in the US and nobody pays that as a premium. Value starts in uncirculated condition with full original red color: about $10-15 in MS65 Red, roughly $50-75 in MS66 Red, and about $800-1,500 in price guides for the very few that reach MS67 Red. Proofs from 1964 sets are worth about $1-5. The real money is in errors, such as a 1964 cent struck on a dime blank at about $800-5,000, and in the 1964 Special Mint Set cent, a rarity that has sold for five figures.
Most people asking about a 1964 penny have heard that 1964 is a silver year. That is true of dimes, quarters and half dollars, but not of the cent, which was never made of silver.
Quick answer
- A circulated 1964 or 1964-D penny is worth one cent, with about 2-3 cents of copper in it.
- Uncirculated with full red color: about $10-15 in MS65, $50-75 in MS66, $800-1,500 in MS67 by price guides.
- 1964 proof cents from proof sets: about $1-5, more for strong cameo contrast.
- Struck on a dime blank: about $800-1,300 on silver, $2,900-5,300 on copper-nickel at auction.
How to value a 1964 penny, step by step
- Read the date and mint mark. The mint mark is below the date. No letter means Philadelphia or San Francisco, which used no mark in 1964; a D means Denver. Both are equally common in circulation.
- Check that it is not silver. A 1964 cent is copper colored and weighs about 3.11 grams. A silvery 1964 cent is either plated, which is worth one cent, or struck on the wrong blank, which is rare and covered below. Weigh it on a kitchen scale that reads to a tenth of a gram.
- Decide whether it is uncirculated. Look at Lincoln's cheekbone and jaw and the top of the Memorial building on the back. A worn coin shows flat, dull high points in a different shade from the rest. Any wear at all means the coin is a one cent piece.
- Judge the color. Collectors and grading services sort copper into Red, Red-Brown and Brown. Red means close to the original orange copper color across the whole coin. Most uncirculated 1964 cents have toned to Red-Brown or Brown and are worth far less than full Red ones.
- Look for marks. On an uncirculated coin, look with a 5x or 10x loupe for nicks and scratches on the cheek and in the open fields. A gem coin has very few. This is the difference between MS64 and MS66, and it is where most of the value sits.
- Check for a proof. A proof has mirror-like fields and frosted or sharp details, and came in a flat plastic proof set. Look for contrast between frosty devices and mirror fields; strong contrast, called cameo, adds to the value.
- Look for real errors. Check the size, color and weight for a wrong-blank error, and the rim and design for clips, off-center strikes and doubled strikes. Shiny smeared doubling around the letters is almost always ordinary machine doubling, which has no value.
- Price from sold results for the same grade and color. A price for a coin graded MS67 Red by PCGS or NGC does not apply to a raw coin that looks nice in a photo.
1964 penny values
Recent sold prices and price guide figures as of late 2026. Where sales are thin, the figure is a range from price guides and should be treated as a guide only.
| Coin | Mintage | Circulated | MS63 to MS64 Red | MS65 Red | MS66 Red | MS67 Red |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1964, no mint mark | 2,648,575,000 | 1 cent | $1-5 | $10-15 | $50-75 | about $800-1,500 in price guides |
| 1964-D | 3,799,071,500 | 1 cent | $1-5 | $8-12 | $35-50 | about $500-800 in price guides |
| 1964 proof | 3,950,762 | not applicable | $1-2 | $3-5 in PR65 | $5-15 in PR67 | $50-100 in PR69 |
Red-Brown coins sell for about half of the Red figures, and Brown coins for less again. In MS67 Red, sales are scarce and prices swing widely: a few coins graded by smaller services have sold for about $140-400, while coins graded by PCGS at that level are rare and priced in four figures. The single PR70 proof of 1964 to sell at auction brought about $2,600 in 2017, and that is not a coin anyone finds in a set.
Errors and special coins
| Coin | What to look for | Recent sold prices, as of late 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Struck on a 90 percent silver dime blank | Small, thin, silver colored, weighs about 2.5 grams, with Lincoln's design incomplete at the edges | About $800-1,300 in AU to MS |
| Struck on a copper-nickel dime blank | Same size as above but gray with no silver content | About $2,900 in XF; $3,200-5,300 in MS63 to MS65 |
| 1964 Special Mint Set cent | Satin finish, sharp strike, not mirror like a proof; very few known | Roughly $10,000-18,000 in the few auction sales |
| Doubled die reverse varieties | True doubling on the reverse letters, listed by variety | Tens of dollars to low hundreds in mint state |
| Off-center, clipped or double struck | Missing part of the design, a curved bite from the rim, or a second image | Roughly $10-100 for common types, more for dramatic examples |
The dime blank errors exist because 1964 was the last year of the silver dime and the first coins of 1965 were struck on the new copper-nickel blanks, and stray blanks ended up in cent presses. They are rare and are often faked by plating or shaving a cent, so weight and size matter more than color. Our guide to error coins worth money explains how the common error types are identified.
Common mistakes
- Thinking 1964 pennies are silver. Only the dime, quarter and half dollar of 1964 are 90 percent silver. Every normal 1964 cent is copper.
- Keeping rolls of worn 1964 cents for the copper. The copper is worth 2 to 3 cents, and melting cents is illegal. A roll of worn 1964 cents is worth 50 cents.
- Mistaking a plated cent for a silver error. Silvery plated cents are common novelties and science projects. They weigh the same as a normal cent and show copper at the rim or in scratches.
- Calling machine doubling a doubled die. Flat, shelf-like doubling on the letters comes from a loose die during striking and adds nothing. True doubled dies show rounded, separated second images.
- Cleaning the coin. Cleaning destroys the original red color and the value with it. Our guide on whether you should clean old coins explains why.
- Treating any shiny 1964 as MS67. The difference between MS65 and MS67 is a handful of tiny marks that only a loupe shows. Price your coin as MS63 to MS65 unless a grading service says otherwise.
How WorthPic reads 1964 penny photos
WorthPic runs on the newest and most capable AI model available, tuned for exactly this kind of identification. For a 1964 cent it reads the date and mint mark, checks the color against the normal copper of the period, and looks at Lincoln's cheek and the Memorial building for the flat spots that mean wear. It looks for the signs of a proof finish, for a smaller or silvery coin that might be on a dime blank, and for the clipped rims, off-center strikes and doubling that make an error. It then gives an honest value range for what the photos show, and for a worn coin that range is one cent, said plainly.
What it cannot know from a photo is the weight of the coin, whether the color is original or the coin has been cleaned or plated, and the tiny marks that separate MS65 from MS67. Lighting changes copper color on a screen more than almost anything else. It identifies and estimates. It does not grade, authenticate or appraise, and for a possible wrong-blank error or a top-grade red coin it will say a grading service should look at it.
What to photograph
- The obverse straight on, in daylight or under a single white lamp, so the date, mint mark and color are clear.
- The reverse straight on, showing the Memorial building and the lettering.
- The coin on a kitchen scale with the reading visible, if you think it is a silver or wrong-blank coin.
- The coin beside a normal cent and a dime, if it looks smaller or silvery, so the size can be compared.
- The edge, if the coin looks plated, since plating often shows at the rim.
- Any doubling close up, with the loupe or a macro lens, so its shape can be seen.
When to get it looked at in person
A worn 1964 penny is a one cent coin, and so is almost every one you find; there is no need to show it to anyone. For an uncirculated coin with full red color and almost no marks, a coin dealer or a local coin club can tell you in a minute whether it might reach MS66 or MS67 Red. Only then is it worth sending to PCGS or NGC, whose fees of about $20-60 per coin cost more than most 1964 cents are worth. A coin that may be struck on a dime blank, or a possible Special Mint Set cent, should go to PCGS or NGC before it is sold, since buyers pay for the attribution, not the owner's description. For the rest of the jar, see what pennies are worth money, and for the later copper years see the 1972 penny value guide.