How much is this rare penny worth?

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badaspie | 2 years, 10 months ago

Your 1990 penny without a mint mark (the letter indicating where it was made) is probably worth one cent. Over 6.8 billion 1990 pennies were produced for general circulation at the Philadelphia mint and have no mint mark by design (the "P" mark was used only on the silver nickels minted during World War II). The rare and valuable non-mint-marked coins were minted in San Francisco, and the lack of an "S" is a genuine mint error. However, coins from the San Francisco mint are intended for collectors; they are "proof" coins of extremely high quality using specially prepared blanks and dies, and they are sold by the mint only in packaged sets.

http://www.bowersandmerena.com/images/auction_pics/13010/64o.jpg

http://www.littletoncoin.com/LCC/html/images/ps1990s-wc.jpg

Of the 3 million or so 1990 pennies minted in San Francisco, about 3000 were missing the "S" mint mark, and these are the valuable ones (an almost-perfect specimen sold at auction in 2007 for over $20,000)

source(s):
http://www.coinfacts.com/small_cents/cents_lincoln_memorial_reverse.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lincoln_cent#Mintage_figures
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lincoln_cent#Mint_errors_specific_to_Lincoln_c...
http://en.allexperts.com/q/Coin-Collecting-2297/2009/2/Lincoln-cent-1990-S....
http://www.bowersandmerena.com/auctions/lot_detail.aspx?AuctionNo=13050&...

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russb | 2 years, 11 months ago

The question is, has it been handled or is it in "direct from the mint" condition (meaning sealed at the mint and still has a reddish copper color to it rather than normal penny brown) If it's preserved from the mint, maybe as much as a 650 dollars. If it's like the other six billion out there that have been circulated then maybe as much as 15 cents. Check your local yellow pages for coin dealers in town, and take it to two or three if you really think it's the more valuable type (I've talked to normally reputable dealers who offer cut rates if they think you don't know what you have).

source(s):
http://www.pcgs.com/prices/PriceGuideDetail.aspx?MS=4&PR=1&c=45&...

http://www.bestcoin.com/lincoln-cents-2.htm

http://coins.about.com/library/coin_values/bl_lincoln_memorial_penny_values...

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