In 1909 production of the "Wheat Penny" began in Philadelphia and San Francisco United States mints. The Philadelphia mint produced around 20,000 of the new pennies - and they bear no mint mark. The 1909 pennies from San Francisco have an S right under the date on the front of the coin.
The rarest Lincoln penny from the 1st year of production is known as the 1909-S VDB Cent. "VDB" stands for Victor D. Brenner, who designed the now iconic Lincoln profile and backside of the penny. Due to some design discrepancies, only 484,000 1909-S pennies have Brenner's initials "VDB" on the base of the backside of the coin. That makes these coins very valuable and collectible.
Needless to say, check your 1909-S pennies for the V.D.B initials, these coins are very collectible - even in poor shape. However, if you find one in great condition, they can be worth thousands. Beware of counterfeits when buying these, as the mint mark and V.D.B have been known to be added to coins.
Another fact about all US pennies is up until 1982, pennies contained 95% copper, and many coin collectors will keep all pennies dated 1982 and prior because the copper content makes them worth more than 1 penny.
We have over 700 "wheat penny" values in our coin price database, check them out here.
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