Rare & most expensive pennies

What are the most rare & expensive pennies all you guys look out for?

 

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The 1908 Lincoln Cent.

 

Your redbook should have all the mintages so you can see what's the rarest, and in the back they have the highest realized auction records so you can see the most expensive.

 

it don't exsist I never seen one.. I highly doubt it

 

That makes it rare.

 

I havnt got my red book yet already ordered it tho

 

I edited my post. I had forgotten to enter an emoticon.

 

Like others have said, the Redbook is your best friend for collecting US coins. If you get into errors or varieties, you will want to get the Cherrypickers guide for the series you hunt for.

 

So the red book is for rare coins? & cherry picker is for errors

 

Redbook for all US coins. It gives you mintages, history, pricing (estimates), etc. All basic information on US coins is in that book. Cherrypickers shows and lists for you all known varieties for particular series of coins. So, if you are interested in Lincoln cents, get Vol I of the Cherrypickers guide and they show you all known varieties for lincoln cents.

 

you need to specify what type of penny you mean. Some of the early large cents are huge bucks in good condition. one year of Flying eagle is huge bucks and rare. Some key date Indians are huge bucks as well. All series have key dates that are pricey. Just go to Numesmedia price guide to find rare years and approx values.

 

Also, rare and expensive aren't necessarily the same thing. A great example of this is the most popular regular issue Lincoln Cent...the 1909-S VDB. It has the lowest mintage of any business strike Lincoln Cent (at 484,000) and is among the most valuable. However, nearly any coin shop in the US has one for sale and at almost any large coin show you might see hundreds of them. It's certainly not rare...but it's popularity drives the price up.

 

Actually, sir, and if I may; Cherrypickers does not show all known varieties for Lincolns or other series. In reality, it is a sampling of the more major, popular, valuable, and obtainable varieties, but is far from complete. However, since the OP is asking about which are valuable, the book is a fine suggestion even if the info within can usually be found elsewhere online.

You shouldn't have had to.

 

Yes, fair enough. Of course it will never be able to be as inclusive as a good specialist book, but close enough for a beginner I thought.

 

Of course, and it certainly was. I simply felt that because this gentleman is new (or appears to be so), it was a reasonable addition to an otherwise fine and helpful post, especially if he has or may develop an interest beyond the more valuable dates and/or varieties.

 

Thank you guys & yes I'm after the rare ones or most expensive pennies out there for one reason only to help my parents out
& I still get to collect my coins to but I want to keep an eye out for them

 

These are some rare dates off the top of my head. I know there are more, but these are the most well know.

Small Cent Key Dates:

Flying Eagle Cents:
1856

Indian Head Cents:
1864 L on head dress
1877
1886 type one, or type two
1908s
1909s


Wheat Cents:
1909s
1909s vdb
All of the cents from 1910-1914 with mint marks
1914d
1922d
1922 weak "D"
1922 no "D"
1943 (p),(d),(s) copper cent (You will not find one under $500,000-$1,000,000)
1944 (p),d),(s) steel cent (A bit more rare then the 1943 copper cent, yet less known)
1955p Doubled Die Obverse

Memorial Cents:
1969s Doubled Die Obverse (Extremely rare)
1972 Doubled die Obverse
1984 Doubled Ear
1988 Doubled Ear
1992 close "AM, in America" (Extremely rare)
1995 Doubled Die Obverse
1997 Doubled Ear
1998 wide "AM, in America"
1999 wide "AM, in America"
2000 wide "AM, in America"

 

Thanks coin man I got $100 worth in pennies I will try to go thru all of them tonight hopefully I find some good stuff

 

There is, of course, nothing wrong with keeping an eye out for more valuable coins. However, and with all due respect, searching with the hopes of a worthwhile profit (as opposed to doing it for enjoyment) is likely to be an exercise in futility. When looking through rolls, you're almost certainly not going to find a highly valuable non variety date. If searching for varieties, you must know what you're doing or be willing to make a substantial time investment to learn, but even then the chances of finding anything truly valuable in rolls is extremely small. I don't know your situation or why you need to help your parents, but unless you've time to burn, and/or if money is that important, you will be better off finding some other way to make it.

 

Keep your eye out for pennies before 1982 (they are made out of 95% copper), they are worth 3 cents in copper, Whereas new pennies, are made of copper plated zinc, worth only .5 cents.