Some of the 1909 cents have them, and all of the cents from 1918 to date are supposed to have them. Cents from the latter part of 1909 to 1917 do NOT have the initials.
At one time there was a bunch of hype over Memorial cents without the VDB. Folks were giving a few dollars for them. The VDB was just polished off the die and people collected them.
The 1909 VDB caused a stir because many thought the initials were too prominent. So the Mint removed them completely and it took it eight years to figure out to just sneak them in under the shoulder.
One must remember that when the mint polishes the dies, the initials are usually the first to go. I doubt it makes the coin worth more than face value, at least to me it doesn't.
Because of the hoopla in 1909 the S VDB became the most collectable cent of the modern era. Good question, thanks for the post.
The short answer is no. After the "VDB" was removed in 1909, the coin did not have Brenner's initials on it. In 1918 they were added discretely under Lincoln's shoulder. They are so hard to see that most people, who are not collectors, don't realize that they are there. One of the ways to spot a bad 1914-D cent is to look for the "VDB." If the piece has the initials, it's bad. You can see them pretty well on this 2011-S Proof Cent.
Is that a matte finish cent ? Are all newer S cents like that. Don’t think I’ve saw that before. Great picture
