The American penny is perhaps the most iconic and the most instantly recognizable “American” coin out there. It is often the first thing that people think of when they think of an American coin. Not only has the penny been one of the most historic and lasting of American coins, but something about it serves to really symbolize American currency and coins in general.

Now, being that the penny has been around for a very long time, some pennies of course are more valuable than others are and vice versa. Certain years and mint marks, when combined, are quite rare or are quite valuable for some other reason. In this article, some of the more attainable and easier to find “special” but not necessarily “rare” coins are discussed.

Coin collecting is a fun and particularly enjoyable hobby, and few coins are as fun to collect as pennies are. Some people collect hundreds of thousands, even millions of pennies. Some collect certain years. Some are major wheat penny enthusiasts. Some exclusively collect copper pennies, in the hopes that the price of copper will go up. Some collect the special pennies, and some just save jars upon jars of pennies, all of different reasons and purposes and interests. One thing is for certain though, the American penny has hooked our attention for over a century.

Which Years and Mint Marks of the Penny are Special

Different pennies have different values to them. One and the same, all pennies are fun to collect and can serve to fill pages in our collection books, but here is one year and mint mark of certain penny out there that is just a little bit special:

• The 1968 D Penny. According to coin trackers, this is one of those pennies that is a perfect example of a special penny. It is worth about twelve dollars in great condition, and it is not immensely hard to find. However, as a rough estimate of this coins value you can assume this coin in average condition will be valued at somewhere around just one cent, (truthfully most pennies from this year will only be with about one cent). However, in great condition the coin could bring twelve dollars at auction.

The 1968 D penny is not the only one that is special, though it is one of the more favored ones. In fact, here is a short list of other mint marks and years of pennies that are worth looking out for and buying from coin shops:

• 1909 any mint mark, $3 and up
• 1909-S, $85 and up
• 1910-S, $15
• 1911-D, $5
• 1911-S, $40
• 1912, $1
• 1912-D, $6
• 1912-S, $20
• 1913-D, $3
• 1913-S, $12
• 1914-D, $175
• 1914-S, $20
• 1915, $1.50
• 1915-D, $2
• 1915-S, $20
• 1916-D, $1
• 1916-S, $1.50
• 1921-S, $1
• 1922-D, $15
• 1923-S, $2
• 1924-D, $30
• 1924-S, $1
• 1926-S, $5
• 1931-D, $4
• 1931-S, $100
• 1932, $1.50
• 1932-D, $1
• 1933, $1
• 1933-D, $2

Collecting pennies is a great entry level activity for the novice numismatist. Pennies are really great because they are pretty affordable, and it is easy to get a lot of them without having to shell out a lot of dough. This makes for the most fun and the most bang for your buck. Plus, it is the simplest denomination in American coins, which makes it a great starting point for collectors. The above list, along with the note on the 1968 D penny, is a great reference point for collectors to know which coins to start keeping an eye out for, and which coins to consider when shopping for coins at a coin store. Coin shops can also often sell pennies in large quantities too, as they trade well, and there is a consistent and essentially predictable demand for them, as coins go.