A 1983 penny is worth one cent. Every regular 1983 cent is copper-plated zinc weighing 2.5 grams, and 1983 was the first full year of zinc cents, with 7,752,355,000 struck at Philadelphia and 6,467,199,428 at Denver. As of October 2026, the exceptions are the 1983 doubled die reverse, which the PCGS Price Guide lists at $20 in VF to $575 in MS65 Red (MS65 Red coins have sold for about $210-430), and the very rare 1983 cent struck on a leftover 3.11 gram bronze blank, which has sold at auction for $1,880 to $29,250.
Unlike 1982, there is no copper 1983 cent in normal production. The Mint finished the switch to zinc in 1982, so a 1983 that weighs 3.11 grams is an error worth thousands, and one that weighs 2.5 grams is a normal coin.
Quick answer
- Regular 1983 or 1983-D cent: one cent. It is zinc with a thin copper plating and weighs 2.5 g.
- Uncirculated Red (PCGS guide): about $14 in MS65, $55 in MS67, $550 in MS68. PCGS MS68 Red coins have sold for about $200-575.
- 1983 doubled die reverse, FS-801 (PCGS guide): about $20 in VF20, $60 in AU58, $240 in MS65 Brown and $575 in MS65 Red. PCGS MS65 Red coins have sold for about $210-430.
- 1983 struck on a bronze blank, 3.11 g: sales of $3,120 to $23,500 for most graded coins, and a record $29,250 for a PCGS MS65 Red in 2024.
- Check the weight, then the reverse lettering. Those two steps catch both valuable 1983 cents.
How do you check a 1983 penny, step by step?
Weigh it, read the mint mark, then look at the back for doubling.
- Confirm the date. The date is on the front, to the right of Lincoln's bust, near the rim.
- Find the mint mark. It sits directly below the date. D means Denver. No letter means Philadelphia. An S means a proof from a collector set, with mirror fields.
- Weigh it. Use a digital scale that reads to 0.1 grams or better; most kitchen scales that read whole grams cannot show the difference. About 2.5 grams means zinc, which is nearly every coin. About 3.1 grams means bronze, which is the rare error.
- Check the scale. If you get a heavy reading, weigh a modern nickel, which should read 5.00 grams, and a cent dated 1981 or earlier, which should read about 3.11 grams.
- Look at the back for doubling. On the 1983 doubled die reverse, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, E PLURIBUS UNUM and ONE CENT show a strong second outline, often visible without a loupe. The listed variety is a Philadelphia coin, with no mint mark.
- Rule out machine doubling and damage. Flat, shelf-like doubling on one side of the letters is machine doubling, common and worth nothing. Bubbled plating, dark spots and peeling copper are normal problems on zinc cents, not errors.
- Judge the color and condition. Uncirculated cents are graded by color as well as marks: Red (RD), Red-Brown (RB) or Brown (BN). Full original red with almost no marks is what the high values need.
- Price from sold results for the exact variety, grade and color.
What is a 1983 penny worth?
One cent unless it is a top-grade Red coin, the doubled die reverse or a bronze error. Values are from the PCGS Price Guide and recorded sales as of October 2026.
| Coin | How to recognize it | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Circulated 1983 or 1983-D | Zinc, 2.5 g, worn | One cent |
| Uncirculated Red, MS63 to MS66 | Full red, normal marks | About $5-20 graded; raw coins sell for $2-3 |
| MS67 Red | Very few marks | About $55 |
| MS68 Red | Near flawless | PCGS guide about $550; sales mostly $200-575; PCGS auction record $1,840 (Heritage, 2008) |
| Doubled die reverse, FS-801, circulated | Doubled reverse lettering | About $20 (VF20), $35 (XF40), $60 (AU58) |
| Doubled die reverse, mint state | Same, no wear | PCGS guide about $150 (MS63 BN) to $575 (MS65 RD), $1,500 (MS67 RD); MS65 RD sales about $210-430 |
| Struck on bronze blank | 3.11 g on a checked scale | $3,120 to $23,500 at auction for most graded coins; $29,250 record |
The doubled die reverse values rise steeply with red color. PCGS lists its auction record as $7,050 for an MS68 Red at Heritage in July 2017. For ordinary 1983 cents, CoinWeek notes that raw examples sell on eBay for $2 to $3, while graded top-population coins can bring hundreds.
Is a 1983 penny copper or zinc?
Zinc. The Mint switched from 95 percent copper bronze to copper-plated zinc during 1982, and every regular 1983 cent is zinc: 97.5 percent zinc with a 2.5 percent copper plating, weighing 2.5 grams. Bronze cents weighed 3.11 grams. Because the plating makes both look the same, color tells you nothing; the scale does.
That is the difference from the 1982 penny, where both copper and zinc coins were made in normal production and both are common. For 1983, a copper cent is not a variety. It is a transitional error: a leftover bronze blank that went through the press with the new zinc blanks.
How do color and condition change a 1983 penny's value?
For uncirculated cents, color is part of the grade. PCGS and NGC add RD, RB or BN to every copper-colored cent, and the same coin can be worth several times more in Red.
| Factor | What to check | Effect on value |
|---|---|---|
| Wear | Lincoln's cheek and jaw, the Memorial's columns | Any wear makes a regular coin worth one cent |
| Color | Red (RD): at least 95 percent original color. Red-Brown (RB): mixed. Brown (BN): mostly toned | Red brings the top values; Brown the lowest |
| Marks | Nicks on Lincoln's cheek and in the open fields | Separates MS63 at about $5 from MS67 at about $55 |
| Plating | Bubbles, peeling, dark spots of exposed zinc | Lowers the grade or makes the coin ungradable |
| Variety or error | Doubled reverse lettering, 3.11 g weight | Turns a cent into a $20 to $29,000 coin |
Zinc cents are fragile. The thin copper plating scratches and corrodes more easily than solid bronze, and moisture can push the zinc through the plating as gray or black blisters. That is why so few 1983 cents survive in MS68 and higher, and why the top grades carry hundreds of dollars while an MS65 is worth about $14. Store cents dry, in inert holders, and never rub them.
What is the 1983 doubled die reverse penny?
It is a 1983 Philadelphia cent struck from a reverse die with strongly doubled design. PCGS describes it as possibly the strongest doubled die reverse in the Lincoln cent series, with doubling on UNITED, E PLURIBUS UNUM and ONE CENT that is visible to the naked eye, and the Cherrypickers' Guide catalogs it as FS-801. On a real one, each affected letter shows two distinct, rounded outlines, slightly offset.
PCGS guide values are about $20 in VF20, $35 in XF40, $60 in AU58, $150 in MS63 Brown and $240 in MS65 Brown. Red coins are worth more: about $340 in MS63, $575 in MS65, $1,500 in MS67 and $6,500 in MS68. Actual sales of PCGS Red coins have run below the guide in middle grades, about $210-430 in MS65 and $310-660 in MS66, and about $900-2,135 in MS67. PCGS also lists several minor 1983 doubled die obverse varieties (FS-101 to FS-103), which bring much smaller premiums.
What is the 1983 bronze penny error worth?
Thousands of dollars, depending on condition. According to CoinWeek, variety specialist Billy Crawford identified the first one in 2006 when a 1983 cent weighed 3.11 grams instead of 2.5. Only a handful are known. Recorded sales include:
| Coin | Sale | Price |
|---|---|---|
| PCGS MS62 RB, discovery coin | Heritage, December 2013 | $23,500 |
| PCGS MS62 BN | Stack's Bowers, February 2014 | $22,325 |
| PCGS MS63 RB | Heritage, April 2014 | $18,800 |
| PCGS AU58 | Stack's Bowers, November 2015 | $11,750 |
| NGC MS61 BN | Heritage, August 2020 | $3,120 |
| NGC MS64 RB | Stack's Bowers, March 2024 | $9,000 |
| PCGS MS65 RD, finest known | GreatCollections, July 2024 | $29,250 with buyer's fee |
CoinWeek also lists a PCGS AU55 at $16,450 (Heritage, 2014), a coin PCGS returned as Genuine (no numeric grade) at $1,880 in 2012, and two circulated examples sold at GreatCollections for $3,900 and $4,050. Prices vary widely, so a single sale is a guide, not a price. Our guide to error coins worth money explains wrong-metal errors in general.
A worked example
Say you sort a jar of pennies and pull out 40 dated 1983, mixed Philadelphia and Denver.
You weigh each on a scale reading to 0.01 grams, after checking it with a nickel at 5.00 grams. Every coin reads 2.47 to 2.53 grams: zinc. Then you look at the back of each Philadelphia coin under a desk lamp. One shows a clear second outline on ONE CENT and E PLURIBUS UNUM, with rounded edges on both images. It is worn, about Very Fine, so the PCGS guide puts it near $20. The other 39 are worth 39 cents. You set the doubled die aside to show a dealer and spend or roll the rest.
Common mistakes
- Thinking every copper-colored 1983 is copper. All of them look copper. Weigh it.
- Using a whole-gram kitchen scale. It cannot show 2.5 against 3.1 reliably. Use 0.1 g or better.
- Calling plating problems errors. Bubbles, peeling and dark zinc spots are common on zinc cents and add no value.
- Mistaking machine doubling for the doubled die. The real one shows two full, rounded outlines on the reverse lettering.
- Looking for the doubled die on a 1983-D. The famous FS-801 is a Philadelphia coin.
- Cleaning the coin. It strips red color, which is most of the value in high grades. See should you clean old coins.
How WorthPic reads 1983 penny photos
WorthPic runs on the newest and most capable AI model available, tuned for exactly this kind of identification. For a 1983 cent it reads the date and mint mark, checks the reverse lettering for the doubled die, judges wear and color, and notes plating damage that is common on zinc cents. It then gives an honest value range, which for most 1983 cents is one cent, and says which photo would settle the question. A photo cannot show weight, and weight is the only way to spot the bronze error, so it asks for a photo of the coin on a scale when that matters. It identifies and estimates. It does not authenticate, grade or appraise.
What to photograph
- Both sides straight on, in even light.
- The reverse lettering close up, sharp, for doubling.
- The date and mint mark close up.
- The coin on a scale with the reading visible.
- The coin at an angle under one light, to show original red luster on an uncirculated coin.
When to get it looked at in person
Ordinary 1983 cents do not need an expert. A Philadelphia coin with clearly doubled reverse lettering is worth showing to a dealer or a coin club; in worn grades it often makes more sense to sell it raw to a variety dealer than to pay a grading fee. A coin that weighs about 3.11 grams on a checked scale belongs with a dealer and then PCGS or NGC, which test the metal; CoinWeek reports that PCGS used X-ray fluorescence to confirm the composition of the finest known example. For a quick sort of a jar of change, see what pennies are worth money.
Sources
- PCGS CoinFacts: 1983 1C, RD: mintage, weight, composition, price guide values and the listed varieties.
- PCGS CoinFacts: 1983 Doubled Die Reverse, RD: description of the variety, Red guide values and the $7,050 record.
- PCGS CoinFacts: 1983 Doubled Die Reverse, BN: circulated and Brown guide values.
- PCGS CoinFacts: 1983-D 1C: Denver mintage.
- CoinWeek: Finest 1983 bronze Lincoln cent error sells for record price: discovery, 3.11 g weight and the list of auction results.
- CoinWeek: 1983 Lincoln Memorial Cent collector's guide: background on the zinc switch and market data for ordinary coins.