5 Rare and Valuable Lincoln Wheat Pennies

The 1909 S is the first year of the Wheat Penny and lives a bit in the shadow of its predecessor, the 1909 S VDB. But the 1909 S is still considered a key date and relatively easy to find considering its low mintage, which makes it an ideal for coin collectors.  The auction record for this wheat penny was an MS67 Red that sold in 2004 for $69,000! And it is truly a superb  example of the Wheat penny.  While you’re unlikely to find a coin in that condition, the average 1909 S wheat penny is still worth $100-$500, which considering it has a face value of $0.01 I’d say that’s a pretty good increase! Be sure to watch out for altered coins and get your coins graded by a third party grading service like PCGS to get your coins authenticated.

The 1909 S VDB Wheat penny out of the San Francisco Mint is definitely the more popular and desirable of the 1909 wheat pennies.  These coins were produced before the Mint decided to remove Victor D. Brenner’s initials as they were seen as too prominent and distracting on the coin.  With a mintage of only 484,000 this is certainly a coin that has increased rarity due to low numbers.  Just this year in 2022, an MS67 Red specimen sold for a whopping $168,000!

Your average 1909 S VDB Wheat penny will sell from anywhere between $900-$2000 depending on how good the condition is.

The 1914 D Wheat penny is another Key date in the series, with a relatively low mintage of 1,193,000.  This coin is considered scarce even in a heavily worn condition! Which means that good condition coins are even harder to come by, making this a rarity you’ll definitely want in your collection. Out of all the wheat pennies, the 1914 D has the 3rd lowest mintage. The auction record for a 1914 D wheat penny was a MS66+RD specimen that sold in 2018 for $158,625.  Your average condition 1914 D Wheat penny is generally worth anywhere from $200-$5,000 depending on the condition of the coin.

The 1922 “plain” wheat penny is a wheat penny that was produced at the Denver mint.  In fact in 1922, Wheat Pennies were ONLY produced at the Denver Mint! So there are two types of wheat pennies from 1922, one with a D mint mark and one without.  The one without is worth significantly more than the one with a mintmark so look out for that one! The auction record for the 1922 D no D wheat penny was a MS64 graded coin that sold in 2008 for $92,000.  The average 1922 D no D wheat penny is worth anywhere from $200-$35,000 depending on the condition! Definitely a rare coin to add to your collection.

The 1931 S wheat penny is the final key date on our list here, and while it may not be quite as valuable as some of the others on this list, it’s still an important addition to any coin collection.  There were only 866,000 of these coins minted, and if you compare that number to the previous years mintage of 34 million, that’s quite a huge drop, making this a hard to find rarity. Out of the three mints that produced wheat pennies in 1931, the San Francisco mint marks are the rarest, followed by Denver and lastly Philadelphia. The auction record for the 1931 S wheat penny was a MS66+RD graded coin that sold for $18,600 in 2021.  The average 1831 S wheat penny is worth from $100-$600 depending on the condition of the coin. As with most wheat pennies, the Red colored specimens generally will achieve the highest value as they’re highly sought after.