The 1944
If you want to have a valuable specimen, look at the uncirculated coins that have an MS grade. At MS-67, the price of a 1944 S mint mark wheat penny is between $120 to $200. However, at auctions, the price hikes up to thousands of dollars.
If the 1944-S is made of steel, a rare occurrence, it is rare and significantly valuable. A 1944-S penny made of steel went for $373,750 in 2008. 1944 Steel pennies are a transitional error, meaning they have a different metallic composition from the 1944 bronze cents and are extremely rare, hence the high prices.
The 1944 Y. Australian Penny was minted in Perth, Australia and is considered relatively common for the period, with an approximate total mintage of 27,830,000.
Nowadays, less than 50 specimens of the 1944 steel pennies are known to exist, making them very rare and valuable pennies. Most of these steel wheat cents come from the Philadelphia Mint and bear no mint mark.
While the 1944 steel cents are not made of steel, they are made of a zinc-coated steel alloy, which makes them unique. The 1944 steel cents with no mint mark are rare, with an estimated mintage of only about 20 to 40 coins.
The title of Australia's rarest penny, while many think it's the 1930 penny, actually goes to the ones made at the Melbourne Mint in 1945. Featuring Thomas Humphrey Paget's effigy of King George VI and the jumping kangaroo reverse, only four pennies were produced at the Melbourne Mint that year.
A bronze coin (30.8 mm diameter with plain edge) featuring a bare head of George VI facing left; around, GEORGIVS VI D:G: BR: OMN: REX F:D: IND: IMP: ; below head in small lettering the artist's initials HP.
1944 Wheat Penny Doubled Die Obverse
Sometimes the mint struck these coins multiple times to get the perfect look. As it happened, the year mark, the word liberty, and Lincoln's eyes look doubled.
Wet the affected coin with clean tap or distilled water, roll in baking soda, then gently scrub with a soft toothbrush. Rinse the baking soda and debris off with more clean water, and repeat the steps if necessary.
How Much Is a 1943 Steel Penny Worth Today? These silver-colored 1943 cents are not rare nor hard to come by, thus fetching low prices of perhaps 10-13 cents for coins in circulated conditions and 50+ cents when uncirculated, showing no trace of circulation wear or loss of original mint luster.
A quick way to check the authenticity of a 1944 Steel Penny is to see if it sticks to a magnet. Coins made of steel will stick to magnets while those that are zinc coated and copper (fakes), will not.
An extremely rare 1930 Australian penny has sold for $60,000 at auction, breaking an Australian record. The coin went under the hammer over the weekend and was bought by a Western Australian bidder.
The 1959 D Lincoln Mule Memorial penny remains one of the most controversial and rare coins. Though not graded, it remains one of the rarest coins. The penny is worth about $50,000. 1959 pennies you need to look for!
Some examples of pennies worth $1,000 or more include the 1955 Doubled Die Lincoln Cent, the 1909-S Indian Cent, the 1909-S VDB Lincoln Cent and the 1914-D Lincoln Cent. The better the quality of the coin, the more it could be worth.
Watch for low mintage years like 1955-S, 1939-D, 1933-D, and 1931-S. Depending on condition, rarer pennies are worth more. Look for all-copper pennies. Old pennies made before 1982 are 95% copper, which gives them an inherent metal value. This translates to the pennies being worth more.
1944 Lincoln Wheat Cent Bronze Composite Penny is worth $0.1 ry fine condition (VF20), up to $6 (Uncirculated MS-63). However, the 1944 Steel Wheat Penny Value can be from $9000 up to half a million dollars.
You Could Find This Rare Penny In Your Pocket Change - Here's What To Look For. Someone found a 1982 copper penny worth more than $10,000 -- and you could too! Here's everything you want to know about the 1982 D penny - and how to find a 1982 small date penny.
The value of a 1944 wheat penny depends on its condition, rarity, and variety. The fact that your pennies don't stick to a magnet is a good sign that they may be made of copper, which is what they should be made of. During World War II, the U.S. Mint used steel to produce pennies to conserve copper for the war effort.
There are an estimated 20 to 30 surviving 1944 steel cents struck at the Philadelphia Mint, many in poor condition. Seven to ten 1944-D steel cents struck at the Denver Mint are thought to still exist, but only two 1944-S steel cents are known.