The Real Value of Flawed Pennies

Aris Graphics and Mesh Creative Group founder James Alton Bechand has spent close to 20 years assisting clients with marketing and branding needs Outside of managing his businesses, James Alton Bechand’s interests include coin collecting.

Coin collectors have been around since antiquity. Numismatics, as it is commonly called, is the study of currency, such as paper, coins, and metals. More than just being a hobby, numismatics informs collectors and historians about the culture that produced the coin. In the US, the study of coins revealed in the last century that flawed pennies have come to be valued at more than the mere one cent.

There are a number of examples of these coins to illustrate how flaws have increased the value of the currency. The first example is of the Bronze Lincoln, which was made by mistake during WWII. The Mint decided to switch from using bronze to using copper, except an omission resulted in the production of the bronzed coins. Today, there are 15 to 20 of these coins, which fetch anywhere between $150,000 and $200,000.

Another example of a flawed penny that is worth a lot more than its value is the 1992 Close AM Reverse. The penny’s flaw appears on the back where the word AMERICA appears. The A and M touch, which differs from the pennies printed the same year (1992). Today, one of these pennies, in new good condition, would fetch close $20,000, and a used one would sell for between $2,000 and $3,000.