History of the Lincoln Memorial Penny
The United States Mint first made the Lincoln penny in 1909 to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the birth of President Abraham Lincoln. The coin has a reverse design that features two ears of wheat. In 1959 the Mint celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Lincoln penny by changing the reverse design to feature a rendition of the Lincoln Memorial. Mint engraver Frank Gasparro designed the new reverse. Additionally, this also commemorated the 150th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln’s birth. From 1959 until 1982 pennies were composed of 95 percent copper and 5 percent tin and zinc with a diameter of 19 mm and a weight of 3.11 grams. In 1982 the price of copper dictated a change in the composition of the Lincoln penny. The mint made approximately half the pennies minted in 1982 from the mostly copper alloy. The rest of them were made with a copper plating over a zinc core (core: 99.2 percent zinc, 0.8 percent copper; plating: 100 percent copper). In 2009, the Mint replaced the reverse design with the Lincoln Bicentennial circulating commemorative coins.
Lincoln Memorial Penny Market Analysis
Lincoln Memorial pennies are very common, and you can find most dates in circulation today. However, some Lincoln cents have more than a penny’s worth of copper in them, but it is illegal to melt them. Lincoln pennies minted from 1959 to 1982 are made of 95 percent copper and have about 2.5 cents worth of copper in them. Beginning in 1982, the U.S. Mint began using zinc planchets plated with a thin layer of pure copper. These new copper plated pennies had less than one-half cent worth of zinc and copper in them. To discourage hoarding, half the pennies minted in 1982 were solid copper and the other half zinc. Additionally, the mint also changed the design slightly when the master die was damaged. This resulted in two varieties for this date. The most noticeable difference is in the 8 in the date. One variety has a large 8 while the other variety has a small one. This resulted in a total of seven different combinations for 1982. According to mint records, there was no 1982-D small date copper. However, one was recently found and sold for over $20,000.
Key Dates, Rarities, and Varieties
The following Lincoln Memorial pennies in any condition, are worth considerable more than common ones:
1970-S Small Date1972 Doubled Die1983 Doubled Die1984 Doubled Die1992-D Close A.M.1995 Doubled Die1999 Wide A.M.
Before you start celebrating your new-found fortune, have the coin authenticated by a reputable coin dealer or third-party grading service. In 2009 the U.S. Mint changed the design of the reverse to commemorate the 200th anniversary of Lincoln’s birth with four different reverse designs. In 2010 a new reverse with a Union Shield was introduced.
Condition or Grade
If your coin is worn, it is considered a circulated coin. If your coin has no evidence of wear due to being in circulation, it is considered an uncirculated coin.
Mint Marks
The United States Mint produced Lincoln Memorial cents at three different mints: Philadelphia (no mint mark), Denver (D) and San Francisco (S). The mint mark is located on the front of the coin, just below the date. The Mint also produced Lincoln pennies for a short time at the West Point Mint, but mint marks were not used for these coins, and hence they are indistinguishable from the Philadelphia coins.
Lincoln Memorial Penny Average Prices and Values
Buy price is what you can expect to pay to a coin dealer to purchase the coin and sell value is what you can expect a coin dealer to pay to you if you sell the coin. The first column lists the date, and mint mark followed by the buy price and the sell value for an average circulated Lincoln Memorial one cent coin. The next two columns list the buy price and the sell value for an average uncirculated. These are approximate retail prices and wholesale values. The actual offer you receive from a particular coin dealer will vary depending on the actual grade of the coin and some other factors that determine its worth.
