Here’s Why You Need To Inspect Every 2009-2023 Penny (Hint: Some Are Worth $1K or More)
Written by
Vance Cariaga
Edited by
Daria Uhlig
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It’s easy to view pennies as a nuisance in your pocket, especially newer ones that you figure won’t hold much value unless you add a couple quarters to them. But before tossing your Lincoln pennies into a coin jar that will one day be dumped into a Coinstar machine, take the time to look at them — even those minted between 2009 and 2023.
This is because — if you’re lucky — you might stumble across a few that will fetch a lot of money on the collectibles market.
The Real Pretty Pennies
Pennies from this era have sold for hundreds of dollars and even into the thousands, according to a YouTube video from Couch Collectibles. That video provides details on some of the variations that can cause pennies from this era to become more valuable. The short version is, higher-value coins typically contain errors caused by double dies or defective planchets.
One thing to keep in mind about modern pennies is that 2009 was a special year in that it marked 200 years since the birth of Abraham Lincoln, whose image first appeared on the front of the penny a century earlier. To mark the 200th anniversary of his birth, the U.S. Mint changed the design of the coin’s reverse. Instead of just one design, the coin was released in four different designs which are now worth different amounts, according to CoinValueChecker.
Here are the four reverse designs introduced in 2009:
- Early Childhood: Features the log cabin home in Kentucky where Lincoln was born
- Formative Years: Shows a young Lincoln sitting on a log reading a book
- Professional Life: Features Lincoln giving his famous “House Divided” speech
- Lincoln as President: Features the U.S. Capitol dome when it was under construction
The thing to keep an eye on here are little errors, such as a double die of the “Formative Years” version that makes it appear that Lincoln has two thumbs while holding the book. These kinds of errors will push values up.
Here are some of the higher prices paid for rare/error pennies from the 2009 series, according to CoinValueChecker:
- 2009 D Professional Life: $725
- 2009 D Lincoln Early Childhood: $450
- 2009 No Mint Mark Formative Years: $375
- 2009 No Mint Mark Professional Life: $300
The Lincoln penny evolved again a year later, in 2010, when the reverse of the coin switched to the depiction of a Union shield. As with other versions, rare versions of the shield pennies have fetched huge sums of money on the collectibles market.
The most valuable of these was a 2010-D penny with a high grade that sold for $4,994 in a 2013 auction, according to the U.S. Coins Guide. The most valuable 2011-D penny to ever sell was another high-grade coin that went for $667 in a 2017 auction.
Even if you can’t find pennies from this era worth hundreds of dollars, it’s not unusual to find varieties worth between $5 and $30 across all years, according to prices listed on the Coin Trackers website.
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