1973 Penny Value: Doubled Die Varieties, Errors and Top Grades

A 1973 penny is worth one cent in circulated condition, as of October 2026, and about $13 to $16 in MS65 red by price guide. The 1973 doubled dies are minor varieties, listed by specialists rather than the main price guides, and sell for roughly $25 to $100 when attributed. The real money is in condition: MS67 red coins have sold for about $200 to $1,000 at auction, with records near $4,000 to $5,000.

People often search for this date because of the famous 1972 doubled die the year before. The 1973 cents have nothing on that level. The Mint struck more than 7.5 billion business strike cents dated 1973, and almost every one of them is worth face value. What you can realistically find are minor doubled dies, ordinary mint errors, and the occasional gem from an untouched roll.

Quick answer

• A circulated 1973, 1973-D or 1973-S penny is worth one cent, as of October 2026.
• Uncirculated red coins are worth about $13-16 in MS65 by guide; MS66 red sells for roughly $20-60, more for a 1973-S.
• MS67 red coins sold for about $200-425 (1973), $140-990 (1973-D) and $400-1,060 (1973-S) at Heritage and David Lawrence.
• The 1973 doubled dies, such as the Wexler WDDO-001 with doubling on IN GOD WE TRUST and LIBER, are minor varieties worth roughly $25-100.
• 1973-S proofs are worth a few dollars; PR69 Deep Cameo examples sell for about $40-110.

How do you check a 1973 penny, step by step?

Read the mint mark, look for doubling on IN GOD WE TRUST and LIBERTY with a loupe, then judge color and marks.

1. Read the mint mark. It sits below the date. No letter means Philadelphia, D means Denver, S means San Francisco. San Francisco struck about 317 million business coins and 2,760,339 proofs that year.
2. Look at IN GOD WE TRUST and LIBERTY. The best-known 1973 doubled die, Wexler's WDDO-001, shows a light spread on the letters of the motto and on LIBER of LIBERTY. It is a Philadelphia coin with no mint mark.
3. Understand rotated doubling. On WDDO-001 the second image is rotated clockwise around a pivot near the 5 o'clock position on the rim. Wexler describes it as Class V. That means the doubling is strongest on letters far from the pivot, at the top and left of the coin, and fades toward the date.
4. Check the date. A second listed variety, WDDO-002, shows extra thickness on IN GOD WE TRUST, LIB and the date. Thickness alone is easy to confuse with wear or strike, so this one needs a close look and a comparison with attributed photos.
5. Rule out machine doubling. Flat, shelf-like doubling on one side of each letter comes from a loose die and is common. It adds nothing.
6. Check the back. A minor doubled die reverse, WDDR-001, shows a light spread on AMERICA, ONE CENT and the designer's initials FG, with notching on the R and C of AMERICA.
7. Judge wear and color. Look at Lincoln's cheek and jaw and at the Memorial columns. Uncirculated cents are graded red, red-brown or brown, and only red coins at MS66 and above carry real premiums.
8. Price from sold results for the exact mint, grade and color.

What is a 1973 penny worth?

Figures are price guide values from CoinValueChecker and recorded sales from Heritage, David Lawrence and other auctions, as of October 2026. Mintages are the US Mint's published figures.

Two notes on the table. First, the jump from MS66 to MS67 is huge for all three mints, because 1973 cents were struck in enormous numbers and handled in bulk bags, and few escaped contact marks. A coin that grades MS66 red is worth tens of dollars; one point higher and it can be worth hundreds. Second, MS67 results swing widely: Heritage sold 1973-D MS67 red coins for $990 twice in 2022 and for $139 in April 2023. When the price of a grade depends on two or three registry collectors, single sales mislead. Use several.

The top proof is a special case. Near-perfect PR70 Deep Cameo 1973-S cents are scarce, and older Heritage results reportedly ran into the thousands, including $12,075 in January 2004 that we could not confirm. Recent sales are thin, so treat any such figure as history, not a current value.

Are there valuable 1973 doubled die pennies?

Not in the way the 1955, 1969-S or 1972 doubled dies are. No 1973 cent doubled die carries a major listing with prices in the main guides we checked, and CoinValueChecker states that no major 1973 doubled die comparable to the 1972 or 1969-S exists. What do exist are minor varieties catalogued by specialists.

John Wexler's listings describe die markers that help confirm WDDO-001. On the front, an early die stage shows a curving die scratch near the rim at about 8:00. On the back of that stage, a short vertical die scratch runs between the R and I of AMERICA. Later die stages show mushier doubling that is harder to see.

These coins are worth a premium to variety collectors, not to the general market. If you find one, the fair way to sell it is with an attribution from a variety specialist or a grading service that records the variety, and with honest expectations about price.

Which other 1973 pennies are worth money?

• Off-center strikes. A coin struck about half off the blank with the date showing sells for roughly $100; a 5 to 10 percent shift is worth about $10 to $20.
• Cents on the wrong planchet. A 1973 cent struck on a dime blank would weigh about 2.27 grams instead of 3.11 and look silver-gray. These are rare and need authentication by PCGS, NGC or an error specialist.
• Repunched mint marks on 1973-D cents. A D with traces of a second punch sells for a few dollars, more for a dramatic example.
• Die cracks and cuds. A raised line between letters is a die crack worth a few dollars. A large raised blob at the rim, called a cud, is worth more.
• Clipped planchets. A curved bite out of the edge, with the rim fading at both ends of the clip, sells for roughly $10 to $50.

Our guide to error coins worth money explains how each error happens and how to tell it from damage.

A worked example

Say you are sorting a jar and find a 1973 with no mint mark where the letters of TRUST look slightly fat. Under a 10x loupe the T, R and U show a thin second outline, and the same spread shows on LIBER but hardly at all on the date. That pattern, strongest at the top and left and weakest near the bottom right, is what rotated doubling around a pivot near 5:00 looks like, so the coin might be the WDDO-001.

Next, check the die markers: a curving scratch near the rim at about 8:00 on the front, and a short vertical scratch between R and I of AMERICA on the back. If both are there, you very likely have the variety. A worn example is worth roughly $25 to $50 to a variety collector. Grading would cost about as much as the coin, so sell it raw with sharp photos, or ask a variety specialist to attribute it first.

Common mistakes

• Expecting a 1972-style doubled die. The 1973 varieties are minor and need a loupe; nothing on this date shows bold doubling at arm's length.
• Calling machine doubling a doubled die. Flat, shelf-like doubling is common and adds nothing.
• Pricing a roll coin from the MS67 column. Most uncirculated coins grade MS63 to MS65 and are worth a few dollars.
• Trusting asking prices. Listings that claim thousands for a 1973 penny are ordinary coins. Use sold results.
• Mistaking damage for an error. Dents, cuts and plating or chemical damage are not mint errors.
• Cleaning the coin. It removes the original red; see should you clean old coins.

How WorthPic reads 1973 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 date and mint mark, looks at IN GOD WE TRUST and LIBERTY for doubling, and separates true hub doubling from the flat shelf of machine doubling where the photo allows. It judges wear and color, notes visible errors such as clips or off-center strikes, and gives an honest value range in US dollars with a most likely figure. Minor rotated doubling is subtle, so it says plainly when a photo cannot confirm a variety and asks for a sharp, angled close-up of the motto. It cannot match die markers for a specific listing from a phone photo or assign a grade. It identifies and estimates. It does not authenticate, grade or appraise.

What to photograph

• IN GOD WE TRUST and LIBERTY close up, in raking light from one side.
• The date and mint mark close up, straight on.
• Both full sides straight on in daylight, for wear and color.
• The rim near 8:00 on the front and AMERICA on the back, if you suspect WDDO-001.
• The coin on a gram scale, if it looks the wrong color or size.

When to get it looked at in person

A worn 1973 cent without doubling needs no expert. For a suspected doubled die, a coin club or a variety specialist can confirm it with a loupe and the die markers. For a coin that may be on the wrong planchet, or a red coin that looks nearly flawless and could reach MS67, PCGS or NGC grading is worth the fee. For the bigger doubled die the year before, see our 1972 penny value guide, for the year after, our 1974 penny value guide, and for other dates, what pennies are worth money.

Sources

• Wexler's Coins and Die Varieties: 1973 Memorial cent doubled dies: WDDO-001, WDDO-002 and WDDR-001, the Class V rotation, the areas of doubling, die markers and CONECA cross references.
• PCGS CoinFacts: 1973-D Lincoln cent, Red: the $4,994 Heritage record (February 2014) for an MS67 red and the survival estimates.
• CoinValueChecker: 1973 penny value: mintages, guide values by grade, auction results for all three mints and proofs, and error values.
• Wikipedia: Lincoln cent: the 95 percent copper, 5 percent zinc composition used from 1962 to 1982.