This Lincoln penny, specially made by the United States Mint in Philadelphia in 1909, was sold at auction by GreatCollections of Irvine, California for a record $365,625.
(Photo courtesy of GreatCollections.)
Posted on 08/29/2022 10:29:02 PM PDT by BenLurkin
Just this past weekend, ten 100-year-old pennies sold for a whopping $1.1 million at an auction held by an Irvine-based auction house.
Now that is a good return on investment.
The coins were sold Sunday night during an auction by GreatCollections.
“The ten pennies were specially struck proof coins made for collectors by the United States Mint in Philadelphia in the early years of the Lincoln cents. All are still in pristine, mint red condition and sold for a combined total of $1,113,174,” the auction house said.
This Lincoln penny, specially made by the United States Mint in Philadelphia in 1909, was sold at auction by GreatCollections of Irvine, California for a record $365,625.
(Photo courtesy of GreatCollections.)
(Excerpt) Read more at ktla.com ...
OF COURSE it’s a VDB.
2.5 cents for a real copper.
This inspires me to check behind my sofa cushions. You never know.
If worth anything, the IRS would step in and claim it as lost property so it belongs to the US government ( or more specifically some congressman that has a coin collection )
“You never know.”
I was in the deli one morning buying breakfast as usual. When I took out my cash I noticed one of the dollars looked pretty raggedy. Turned out it was made in 1935! I was astonished, thinking about all the places that bill had been, and how it had survived for so long.
I took it out of circulation and still have it. Pretty sure it’s still worth $1!
A penny saved is a penny earned.
I once got a 1921 and a 1929 penny in change at McDonalds during the same purchase. They are years of my parents’ births. I still have them. You don’t see many zinc pennies (1943?) anymore, they used to be common.
I started collecting Lincoln pennies when I was a kid (before the Lincoln Memorial reverse). I have a nearly complete set (no errors), I never bought one but my grandma gave me a 1909-S (not VDB) as a gift.
Every single one, except for grandma’s gift, I got from pocket change.
Now, did the mint produce proof coins in 1909? I suppose it’s possible. Can a copper/bronze cent minted in 1909, proof or not, look like the coin in that photo? Almost certainly not.
The financialization of coin collecting ruined the hobby for me. One of the keys to this was the “grading” industry. PCGS has always had a good reputation, but in addition to grade, provenance of a coin like that is very important, because - the market is flooded with Chinese counterfeits, some of which are very, very good.
On eBay, there are lots of obvious counterfeit coins for sale, mostly easy to spot because of condition inconsistent with age.
Before I dropped $$ on a PR67 1909 VDB cent, I’m not sure that there even could be enough reliable information to show that it was real.
I have a nearly complete collection back to 1897 to 1949.
A penny saved is still worthless
The die characteristics for the Proof 1909 VDB are well known, there’s no doubt as to the authenticity of these pieces. The Chinese fakes have gotten pretty good, but so far they haven’t reached the level of actually duplicating individual dies.
About 20 yrs ago, our church put on a festa with rides, games, and food.
I was selling ride tickets, and a young boy walked up and bought himself a ride ticket. The dollar bill he gave me looked a little strange, so I looked closer, and it was a silver certificate. I think he must’ve raided mom or dad’s sock drawer and came to the festa.
The United States Mint does not produce a “penny” coin. It’s called a ONE CENT PIECE.
The zinc is what we have now, covered with a thin layer of copper.
“I think he must’ve raided mom or dad’s sock drawer”
Very likely!
That is so cool! Getting them at the same time is very cosmic!
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