Wheat Penny FAQs

Our wheat penny FAQs page is where you'll find answers to the most common questions you may have regarding wheat pennies. We will be adding to this section as we find more wheat penny topics that we think you will be interested in.

At the end of the wheat penny FAQs section, we will also be addressing many of the questions we receive from you in our mail bag as well. We figure if a few of you are asking the same questions, there are probably more of you who could benefit from a good answer, too.

What year was the wheat penny first minted?
The wheat penny was first minted in 1909 to help commemorate the 100th anniversary of the birthday of Abraham Lincoln.

What year did they stop making the wheat penny?
The wheat penny was minted up through (and including) 1958. In 1959, the wheat penny design was replaced by the new Lincoln Memorial design to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the birthday of Abraham Lincoln.

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Additional Questions From Our Mailbag:

Q: "I have a wheat penny that has the one cent w/wheat stalks on both sides of the penny, I cannot tell what date it is. What would this be worth? There is no Lincoln on this penny, it is marked the same on both sides."

A: Unfortunately, it's likely to be a magician's coin (novelty coin or trick coin) and sells for just a few bucks at a novelty or magic shop. They do make nice conversation pieces, though.

When the US Mint makes coins, they can't put 2 fronts or 2 backs on a coin at the same time due to built in preventative measures.

All of the same-sided coins I have seen are machined out on one side of the coin, carefully keeping the edge intact. Then another coin is thinned down and slightly reduced in diameter, removing it's outer edge. The smaller and thinner coin is then placed inside the hollowed-out coin.

Take a look at your coin under good light and strong magnification. Pay particular attention to the rim (not the EDGE, but the RIM) of both sides of the coin and you may notice a line running around the circumference of the coin. They can be force fit or even glued together. Sometimes they are made as a novelty to sell, to fool people on a coin toss, or just some machinist apprentice perfecting his trade. I have also heard of these same-sided coins being sawed in half and glued together, but the sawed ones are easier to detect.

Again, I'm almost positive that's what we have here. They may sell for a few dollars as a trick coin, but they aren't sought after or in high demand by collectors, I'm afraid. To be sure, why don't you run it into a local coin dealer who can examine it firsthand and give you a second opinion. I hope that helps! Thank you for the question!

Q: "I have a 1950 wheat penny and it's silver in color. Almost perfect and was wondering if you can help me PLEASE. I never seen or heard of this before."

A: A 1950 silver colored wheat penny, huh? Hmmm...well...I hate to tell you this, but those aren't supposed to exist. The only year wheat pennies were made from steel was in 1943 because they needed the copper for the Allied war effort that year. They only used steel for that one year because it turned out to be a bad idea. The steel pennies were often mistaken for dimes. They were also frequently rejected by vending machine magnets that were designed to block the use of steel slugs. Also, since the edges of the pennies were not entirely covered during the galvanization process, the steel pennies would rust very easily from just body oil and sweat.

Since we know they didn't make steel wheat pennies in 1950, I suspect you probably have a trick coin - a 1950 copper wheat penny that someone has coated to make it look like a steel wheat penny.

Sorry to burst your bubble. It sounds like a fun coin to own, though, and it's definitely a great conversation piece. Thank you for the question.



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