Hi! I am new to this and would like to know what you think of this 1916 wheat penny?
pennycollectorguy
Posts: 16 ✭
Best Answers
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Coin Finder
Posts: 7,393 ✭✭✭✭✭
Not bad if you got it for a penny! Can you take a picture of the reverse of the coin, the other side?
Mintage:
Circulation strikes: 35,956,000
Proofs: 0
Designer: Victor David Brenner
Diameter: 19 millimeters
Metal content:
Copper - 95%
Tin and Zinc - 5%
Weight: 48 grains (3.11 grams)
Edge: Plain
Mintmark: "D" (for Denver, CO) below the date6 -
roadrunner
Posts: 28,313 ✭✭✭✭✭
You can find the value and grade of that coin yourself by using the PCGS link above and going to Price Guide and their Photograde. Value is in the $1 to $3 range max as a Good to Fine. Probably closer to the $1. Not quite enough to retire on. But, it's a start into the world of collecting coins. If you found that in change that's quite a feat as those early "teen" mint marks don't show up very often. You can find 1916, 1917, 1918, and 1919 Philadelphia in change but almost never a D or S mint.
Don't get mad if your local dealer offers you 3c to 5c for it. They might already own a roll of them. Retail values and wholesale values can be quite wide on common material in low grade. There are hundreds of thousands of low grade 1916-d cents out there....maybe even a million or more.
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roadrunner
Posts: 28,313 ✭✭✭✭✭
I wasn't aware of it but the 1916-d in MS67 gem condition has a price guide value of $65,000 which is very high for any early Lincoln cent. It apparently rarely is found nice and without marks. I suspect most of these are poorly made with weaker strikes and so-so mint luster. So in the very highest of grades....this date is a rarity in the series. Hence, condition is everything. On the plus side, you're making money with the hobby, not easy to do for a newbie.
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david3142
Posts: 3,596 ✭✭✭✭✭
I would advise you to buy a Red Book and learn how to grade. You can also reference PCGS photo grade online. "Good" as a grade is pretty far down the scale. Numerically, the numbers are 4 and 6. A perfect coin is 70 and mint state starts at 60.5 -
Coins101
Posts: 2,603 ✭✭✭
@pennycollectorguy said:
I did find this in change so is that good?Well, if it is "worth a $1" then you made a 100x profit.
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Answers
Welcome to the boards, have fun
It's good in that the odds of doing it again are probably 10,000 to 100,000 to one. It doesn't add any value to it. The reverse is hacked up a bit. So it's definitely in the under $1 range. The "quality" of it is pretty bad. Just a well worn and tired out early Lincoln cent.
You can probably buy a comparable 1898 or 1899 Indian Cent for a $1 too. Some of this early US stuff is pretty cheap because tons of it have survived. That same 1916-d cent in brand new blazing "red" from the mint condition could be worth hundreds to thousands of dollars. Those you won't find in change. I haven't found an early "teener" D or S Lincoln cent in change since the 1970's.
I fully concur with Roadrunner.
Michael Kittle Rare Coins --- 1908-S Indian Head Cent Grading Set --- No. 1 1909 Mint Set --- Kittlecoins on Facebook --- Long Beach Table 448
Don't know if you've seen these before or not but these are links to PCGS grading and their price guide. They are good resources to study if your starting out. Welcome & enjoy! BTW I like that cent you have there.
pcgs.com/whatiscoingrading
pcgs.com/prices/
Welcome aboard.
Cool to find it still doing its job in circulation 100 years later.
"If I say something in the woods and my wife isn't there to hear it.....am I still wrong?"
My Washington Quarter Registry set...in progress
I think it's wonderfully exciting to find a cent that old in circulation. The "value" of it to others has to do with how many have survived, and lots have, but in collections. But to find it in circulation: that's just extraordinary after 100 years.
Here's a warning parable for coin collectors...
I know! I'm not too interested in making money off of this. It's just a pass time!