For Coin Collectors and Coin Lovers: A Brief History of the American Penny

This article will explain the history of the American Penny or American Cent from the 1700s to present day. It will describe the coins that make up this very common but overlooked subset in coin collections. There will be a few treasures among these "common" coins and I hope to show that some of these coins are not as common as people think.

The Flowing Hair Large Penny was minted in 1793 and several variations were minted. The variations were on the one side that had the words "ONE CENT". There were wreaths and chains that surrounded the words. The pennies themselves cost from $20,000.00 to $425,000.00. These are some of the most expensive pennies and earliest.

The Liberty Cap Large Penny is next and was minted from 1793 to 1796 and is named because of the word "LIBERTY" over the Bust of a lady on one side of the coin and a wreath surrounding the words "ONE CENT". The 1793 penny is worth in mint condition $85000.00.

The next penny is the Draped Bust Large Penny minted from 1796 to 1807 and is named because of the bust of a lady that has a gown draped around her and on the other side of the penny is a wreath surrounding the words "ONE CENT". The 1799 Penny is worth about $60000.00 in extra fine condition and this is the more expensive penny of the group.

The Classic Head Large Penny was minted from 1808 to 1814 and was so named because of the classic bust of a lady on one side of the coin and a wreath surrounding the words of "ONE CENT". Most of these "pennies" in mint condition are worth on the average $15000.00. Not too bad for a "penny".

The Coronet Large penny was minted from 1816 to 1857 and were so named because a lady with a coronet in her hair on one side of the coin and a wreath surrounding the words "ONE CENT" on the other side. Most of these pennies in mint condition are worth between $3000.00 to $10000.00 each. These pennies were known as Large Cents because they were larger than the pennies that came after this. They were about the size between a nickel and a quarter.

The Flying Eagle penny was so named by the eagle in flight on one side of the coin and the word "ONE CENT" on the other side of the penny. This penny was minted in the years of 1856 to 1858 so there were only three years minted. The 1856 penny is very rare and in MS-66 condition is worth $175000.00.

The Indian Head Penny was aptly named because of the head of an Indian princess was minted on one side of the coin and the words "ONE CENT" on the reverse side. This penny was minted from 1859 to 1909. Most of the years were minted in the Philadelphia mint with the exception of 1908 and 1909 where some of them were minted in the San Francisco mint. Some of the more expensive "pennies" are the 1877 and 1909S pennies. The 1877 penny is worth even in very good condition a paltry $800.00 and the 1909S penny is worth in very good condition at least $375.00. Both coins in MS-66 condition are $20000.00 and $8500.00 respectively. Not bad for a couple of pennies.

The next penny is the Wheat Penny commonly called because the stalks of wheat on the one side of the penny and the head of Abraham Lincoln. Although this is a Lincoln Penny it has always been known as the Wheat Penny. The Wheat Penny was minted from 1909 to 1958. The most famous of the Wheat Pennies is of course the 1909 VDB S Penny minted in the San Francisco Mint. A 1909 VDB s penny in mint condition can cost thousands of dollars.

The latest penny still being minted is the Lincoln Penny which has the head of Abraham Lincoln on one side of the penny and the Lincoln Memorial on the other side of the penny. This was minted from 1959 to the present.

The American penny is a classic coin to collect. It has history and it has its treasures. Some of the pennies are not as common as people think and some of these pennies are hard to come by especially the early pennies.