Expert: PAPAJACK - 12/5/2007

Question
I have a bunch of old pennies from 1909 to 1940's.  Are they worth anything?

Answer
Hello Jill,                               

Most circulated coins range from Good (grade-G4) to Almost Uncirculated (grade-AU50) on the scale. The grading scale is from 1 to 70.

Lincoln Head Wheat Cents:  
For grading the Cent Lincolns bow tie and ear wear first. Also notice if there any mint mark on the coin?

Wheat cents were minted from 1909 to 1958, at the Philadelphia, Denver, and San Francisco Mints. If you see a "D" below the date, the coin was minted in Denver. If you see an "S" below the date, the coin was minted in San Francisco. If there is no letter below the date the coin was minted in Philadelphia.

A cent in your date range in a lower grade (4 to 30) will sell for less than .50 cents each. And their value is all in the state of preservation. (They often sell for as little as .15 cents each). If they show full details on the Jaw, Bow Tie and Wheat Heads they are much more collectable and sell from $3 to $7 dollars in grades from 30 to 55.

A Philadelphia issue 1909 cent in circulated condition may sell from $1.00 to $3.00 dollars. A 1940 Philadelphia issue coin can sell from .10 to .25 in circulated grades. For pre 1940 Lincoln Cents there are only a few valuable circulated condition coins to look for.

1909-S, 1910-S, 1911-D, 1911-S, 1914-D, 1914-S, 1915-S, 1921-S  and 1922-D OR 1922 no D,
1924-D, 1926-S, 1931-D, 1931-S.

* THESE ARE ALL KEY OR SEMI-KEY DATES FOR Lincoln cents. There are some others as well.

Without more details on a particular coin only a value range for the pre 1930 dates would be available.

For example a 1925-S sells at about $10 to $20 dollars in almost uncirculated condition. But only from .50 cents in grade 4 to $2.00 in grade 20 and about $6 in grade 40.

A post 1940 issue date coin can retail to collectors from .10 to .50 cents in circulated grades. But a dealer will pay less. Virtually all circulated cents made after 1945 will sell for 3 cents each in bulk.

A word of advice;
Do not try to clean the coins in any way. Learning to estimate the grade of the coins and noting any cleaning or mishandling is the key to finding the value. See if you can borrow or use at your library a copy of the book titled " A Guide Book of U. S. Coins" by R. S. Yeoman, has pictures showing the difference. Or if you can get to a Coin Show in your area I'm sure that you will find your coin types are readily available for examination.

Thank You and Good Luck

PapaJack