Lincoln Head Wheat Cents

The Lincoln Wheat Cent (sometimes referred to as a Wheat penny, Wheatback, Wheat Head, or Wheatie) was a United States one-cent coin produced from 1909 to 1958

Both the obverse and the reverse were designed by Victor David Brenner, a New York sculptor. Brenner's initials, V.D.B., were originally included on the reverse of the coin below the two stylized wheat stalks when the coin was officially released on August 2, 1909. The secrecy surrounding the new design up to the release date created great media speculation and interest. When a reporter from the Washington Star inquited with the Treasury about the V.D.B. advertisement on the reverse, The Mint fumbled its response. There was no Treasury Secretary at the time, so the media storm fell to Assistant Treasury Secretary Charles D. Norton. By August 5, 1909 the Treasury cut off the growing public relations disaster by removing the initials. 27,995,000 pieces had been struck in Philadelphia and 484,000 in San Francisco. These all entered circulation despite rumors of a recall. Both issues were widely saved at the time. In 1918, Brenner's initials were restored to the obverse, below Lincoln's shoulder.

One of the more valuable coins to collectors is the 1909 San Francisco, California-minted VDB cent, so-named because the designer's initials were included between the stalks of wheat on the lower reverse side; only 484,000 were produced before the public outcry at the designer's initials being so prominently displayed. Even poor-quality examples of the 1909-S VDB coin bring hundreds of dollars and a high-grade mint condition example can sell for $6,000 to $12,000 or more. By contrast, the Philadelphia mint produced nearly 28 million examples of the 1909 VDB cent and such coins are far less valuable. The other key date of the series is the 1914-D, with a mintage of just under 1.2 million. Uncirculated examples have auctioned for over $26,000.

The only other wheat cents to command prices on par with the 1909-S VDB and 1914-D are both error coins: the 1922 plain ($5500 for uncirculated specimens), the result of a worn die, and the 1955 doubled die ($1000+ for uncirculated specimens).

In 1959, to commemorate the sesquicentennial of Lincoln's birth, the wheat stalks on the reverse of the coin were replaced with a rendering of the Lincoln Memorial by Frank

Recently Sold:
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