Most wheat pennies are worth roughly 3 to 10 cents each. They were struck by the billion between 1909 and 1958, and common dates in worn condition sell in rolls and by the pound. A short list of dates and mint marks is worth real money, though: a 1909-S VDB sells for several hundred dollars even when worn, a 1914-D for $150 or more, and a genuine 1943 copper cent is worth six figures. Checking a jar takes a magnifier and an hour.
What decides the value is, in order, the date, the mint mark below the date, any known variety, and then condition. A worn key date beats a shiny common date every time. Uncirculated common dates with original red color are worth more than worn ones, but still usually under a few dollars.
So the task with a pile of wheat cents is simple: read every date and mint mark, and set aside anything on the key list below. Everything else is a 5 cent coin with a nice story.
How to read the date and mint mark
The date is on the obverse, to the right of Lincoln's bust. The mint mark, if there is one, sits directly below the date:
- No letter: Philadelphia
- D: Denver
- S: San Francisco
Wheat cents never carry a P. The mint mark is tiny, and on worn coins it can be faint or filled with dirt. Use a 5x to 10x loupe and angle the light from the side. If the area under the date is too worn to read, the coin cannot be attributed with confidence, and that matters most for the 1909-S VDB, 1914-D and 1931-S.
Also check the reverse at the bottom edge for the letters VDB, the designer's initials. They appear on the reverse only on 1909 cents. From 1918 on, small VDB initials are on Lincoln's shoulder, which is normal and not a variety.
Key dates and what they are worth
These are approximate ranges for coins that have not been cleaned, holed or corroded. "Good" means heavily worn but with a readable date and outline; "Fine" means moderate wear with most of the wheat lines still visible; "Uncirculated" means no wear at all.
| Coin | Good | Fine to Very Fine | Uncirculated |
|---|---|---|---|
| Common date 1909-1958 | 3-10 cents | 10-25 cents | $1-5 |
| 1909 VDB (no mint mark) | $10-15 | $15-25 | $30-60 |
| 1909-S | $80-120 | $130-200 | $300+ |
| 1909-S VDB | $700-1,000 | $1,100-1,700 | $2,000-5,000+ |
| 1914-D | $150-250 | $350-700 | $3,000+ |
| 1922 plain (no D) | $400-700 | $900-2,500 | $10,000+ |
| 1931-S | $80-120 | $130-180 | $200-400 |
| 1955 doubled die obverse | - | $1,000-2,000 | $2,500+ |
| 1943 steel (common) | 10-20 cents | 20-50 cents | $1-5 |
| 1943 bronze (copper) | $100,000+ | $150,000+ | $250,000 to over $1 million |
| 1944 steel | $75,000+ | $100,000+ | Six figures |
Other semi-key dates worth setting aside: 1910-S, 1911-D, 1911-S, 1912-S, 1913-S, 1914-S, 1915-S, 1924-D and 1926-S. These typically run $10 to $50 in worn condition and more in better grades.
The 1909-S VDB
The most famous wheat cent. Only 484,000 were struck before the designer's initials were removed. Check for both the S below the date and the VDB on the reverse bottom. Fakes are common, usually a 1909 VDB from Philadelphia with an S added, so a genuine-looking example should go to PCGS or NGC before it is sold.
The 1914-D
A low-mintage Denver coin that is hard to find in any grade. Altered dates are the main problem here: a 1944-D with the first 4 shaved to look like a 1914-D is a known trick. Look at the spacing of the date digits and compare with a reference photo.
The 1922 plain
There was no Philadelphia cent in 1922. All 1922 cents were struck in Denver, and a worn die left some without a visible D. Only the "strong reverse" die variety carries the big premium. A 1922 with a weak or partial D is a different, less valuable coin, often $30 to $100. A clear, close macro of the date area and the reverse wheat lines is what separates them.
The 1931-S
Low mintage for the series, at about 866,000. It is a reliable key date, not a rarity, but a worn one still sells for around $100.
The 1955 doubled die
The doubling is obvious to the naked eye on the date and on LIBERTY and IN GOD WE TRUST. If you need a magnifier to see faint doubling, it is almost certainly machine doubling, which is a common flat shadow and worth nothing extra.
The 1943 steel cent test
In 1943 the Mint made cents from zinc-coated steel to save copper for the war. These steel cents are silver gray and very common. A tiny number of bronze blanks left over from 1942 were struck by mistake, creating the 1943 copper cent, one of the most valuable error coins in American coinage. The reverse happened in 1944, with a few steel blanks struck in the bronze year.
The test is simple:
- Magnet. A 1943 steel cent sticks to a magnet. A genuine 1943 bronze cent does not. If your 1943 copper-colored cent sticks, it is a plated steel cent, worth a few cents.
- Weight. A bronze cent weighs about 3.11 grams. A steel cent weighs about 2.7 grams. A kitchen scale that reads to 0.1 gram is enough to separate them.
- The date. Many "1943 copper" cents are 1948 cents with the 8 altered into a 3. Look closely at the final digit under magnification. A 3 with a flat top or tool marks is a warning sign.
A copper-colored 1943 that does not stick to a magnet and weighs about 3.1 grams is worth a careful look by PCGS or NGC. The same goes in reverse for a 1944 cent that sticks to a magnet.
Steel cents that have been replated or "reprocessed" to look shiny are sold to tourists. They are worth less than original worn ones, not more.
Condition and color
Condition multiplies value but rarely turns a common date into something special. For an uncirculated wheat cent, color matters: red (RD) coins with original mint color are worth the most, red-brown (RB) less, brown (BN) the least. The surface should look satiny, with luster that moves as you tilt the coin.
A coin that has been polished or dipped looks bright but flat, often with a pinkish or orange tone and fine parallel scratches. That is cleaning, not mint red, and it lowers value. Never clean wheat cents, even a single test coin.
What to do with a jar of common wheat cents
- Sort out the key and semi-key dates above.
- Keep any uncirculated, full red coins separate.
- Sell the rest in bulk. Common wheat cents trade at roughly $2 to $4 per roll of 50, or by weight online.
- If the jar also holds silver, Buffalo nickels or old foreign coins, the inherited coins guide explains how to sort the rest.
Photos that answer the question
- A straight-on macro of the date and mint mark, in daylight, no flash
- The reverse bottom edge for 1909 cents, to show or rule out VDB
- An angled-light photo for any coin that might be uncirculated
- A scale reading and a note on the magnet test for any 1943 or 1944 cent
With those, a key date can usually be confirmed or ruled out quickly. For a coin that might be worth $100 or more, a grading service is the right next step before selling.