Check Your Pennies!

These were first discovered in 2001 starting with the 2000 1-Cent penny. Soon after, coins collectors found versions in 1998 and 1999.

The 2000 Wide AM variety is the most common of the three years.

The 1998 Wide AM is currently considered more rare.

The varieties found on some 1998, 1999, and 2000 Lincoln Cents feature a different design than that of normal circulation coinage. In 1993, the United States standardized the circulating Lincoln Cents reverse design in which the AM in AMERICA was close, almost touching. The designer initials “FG” were also quite close. For reasons unknown, the mint made a different design standard for the reverse of the Lincoln Cent coinage in which the AM of AMERICA was further apart. With two separate reverse designs being used at the mint for Lincoln Cents, it was only a matter of time until there was a mistake. This occurred not once but over a three-year period 1998, 1999, and 2000 - in which the mint made dies from the wrong design for business strike coinage. As a result, two different designs were placed into circulation for Lincoln Cents of those years.

If you find these pennies, they are worth several dollars on eBay