1909-S VDB Lincoln Cent: The Full Story and Value Guide

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Short on time? The essentials

The 1909-S VDB was struck at the San Francisco Mint with a mintage of 484,000 pieces, the lowest business-strike mintage of any regular-issue Lincoln cent.
Philadelphia struck 27,995,000 VDB cents the same year with no mint mark, so a 1909 VDB Philadelphia cent is a common date and a completely different coin from the 1909-S VDB.
Composition is bronze: 95 percent copper, 2.5 percent tin, and 2.5 percent zinc. Weight is 3.11 grams. Diameter is 19.05 mm. The edge is plain.
The S mint mark sits on the obverse, directly below the date. The VDB initials sit centered at the bottom rim of the reverse, between the ends of the two wheat stalks.
The coin was released on August 2, 1909, and struck without the initials by August 12, 1909, after Chief Engraver Charles E. Barber and Treasury officials judged VDB too prominent.
Copper melt value on any Lincoln cent is a fraction of a cent at typical copper prices. Federal Treasury rule 31 CFR Part 82 prohibits melting United States one-cent and five-cent coins for their metal content.
The Professional Coin Grading Service has described the 1909-S VDB as the "Holy Grail" of Lincoln cent collecting. Even Good grade coins carry a solid three-figure numismatic premium.
The classic fake alters a genuine 1909 Philadelphia VDB by adding an S mint mark on the obverse below the date. Any 1909-S VDB purchase should be certified by an independent grading service first.

On this page

The 1909-S VDB at a glance
Why the initials were removed after only days
Verified physical specifications
Where the S mint mark sits on the obverse
Where the VDB initials sit on the reverse
How grade changes the price by tier
Copper melt floor: the trivial and illegal option
The added-S counterfeit and altered-date fakes
The cleaned-coin trap on a small copper cent
How to work through a candidate coin
The case for third-party grading
What your coin is probably not
1909-S VDB Lincoln cent FAQ

The 1909-S VDB at a glance

The 1909-S VDB Lincoln cent is the single most sought after date in the entire Lincoln cent series. It was struck at the San Francisco Mint in the first weeks of the new Lincoln design, with a total business-strike mintage of only 484,000 pieces. That is the lowest regular-issue mintage of any Lincoln cent across more than a century of production.

Philadelphia struck the same design that summer with no mint mark. The Philadelphia number ran to 27,995,000 pieces. That single fact, roughly 58 times more Philadelphia cents than San Francisco cents in the same first year, is the reason a 1909 VDB from Philadelphia is a common coin and a 1909-S VDB is a treasure.

The Professional Coin Grading Service has called the 1909-S VDB the "Holy Grail" of Lincoln cent collecting. It is the coin that turns a person into a Lincoln cent collector. It is also the coin that inheritors hope to find in a family cookie tin of old pennies. Most of the time, the coin in the tin is a common 1909 Philadelphia VDB, and this page is here to help sort out the difference.

Why the initials were removed after only days

The Lincoln cent was authorized to mark the 100th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln's birth on February 12, 1909. President Theodore Roosevelt commissioned the design from the Lithuanian-born medallic sculptor Victor David Brenner. It replaced the Indian Head cent and became the first everyday United States coin to depict a specific historical person.

The release was delayed to add the motto "In God We Trust" to the obverse after President William Howard Taft took office. The coin finally reached circulation on August 2, 1909, with long lines in many cities as the public tried to obtain the new design.

Brenner had placed his full initials, V.D.B., along the bottom rim of the reverse. Chief Engraver Charles E. Barber of the United States Mint objected to their prominence. Barber himself used a single letter B as his signature on the silver coins he had designed, and he felt the three large letters on the reverse of the cent were an advertisement, not a signature.

Treasury Secretary Franklin MacVeagh sided with Barber. Production was halted on August 6, 1909, and by August 12, 1909, new cent dies without the initials were in production at both mints. Brenner protested, but the change stood. His initials returned in 1918, in small letters below Lincoln's shoulder on the obverse, where they remain on cents made today.

Because the halt fell so early, the San Francisco Mint had struck only 484,000 VDB cents before the switch. That small run is the entire supply of the coin the world now calls the 1909-S VDB.

Verified physical specifications

Every genuine 1909-S VDB shares the same measurable specifications with every other 1909 Lincoln cent. A coin sold as a 1909-S VDB that does not match every attribute below is a fake, a damaged coin, or a completely different piece.

1909-S VDB Lincoln cent, verified physical specifications
Attribute	Value
Face value	One United States cent
Composition	95 percent copper, 2.5 percent tin, 2.5 percent zinc (bronze)
Weight	3.11 grams (0.110 ounce)
Diameter	19.05 mm (0.750 inch)
Edge	Plain
Mint	San Francisco (mint mark S on obverse, below date)
Designer initials	V.D.B. centered at bottom rim of reverse, between the wheat stalks
Mintage	484,000 business strikes at San Francisco
Same-year Philadelphia VDB mintage	27,995,000 pieces (no mint mark)
Obverse design	Abraham Lincoln bust facing right, by Victor David Brenner
Reverse design	Two wheat heads flanking ONE CENT and UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, by Victor David Brenner

Sources: Wikipedia 1909-S VDB Lincoln Cent entry citing PCGS reference; Wikipedia Lincoln cent entry on composition and design history. Checked August 2026.

Where the S mint mark sits on the obverse

The mint mark is the single most valuable letter on the coin. On the 1909 Lincoln cent the mint mark, when present, sits on the obverse. It is directly below the date, slightly to the right of center under the second 9 of 1909. It is small, but on an untouched coin it is clear to the naked eye.

An S in that position, on a coin dated 1909 that also carries VDB on the reverse, is the S you are looking for. A missing mark means the coin was struck at Philadelphia and is a common, much less valuable 1909 VDB. Any other letter in that position on a 1909 cent is not correct for the series and points to alteration or fabrication.

The genuine S punch used at the San Francisco Mint in 1909 has a specific shape and a specific depth that trained graders recognize on sight. That shape, spacing, and die state is why every 1909-S VDB sold at a real numismatic price must be certified by an independent grading service first.

Where the VDB initials sit on the reverse

Turn the coin over. The reverse shows the words ONE CENT and UNITED STATES OF AMERICA in the center, flanked on the left and right by two heads of wheat. The initials V.D.B. sit centered along the bottom rim of the coin, in the small space between the ends of the two wheat stalks, just above the rim itself.

The three letters read left to right as V, D, B, with small periods after each letter on most strikes. They are close together but distinct. On a genuine coin the letters sit flush with the field and are the same depth as the surrounding rim detail. They are visible without magnification on a coin in Fine grade or better.

A coin dated 1909 with an S under the date on the obverse but NO VDB on the reverse is a different coin, the 1909-S plain, struck later that year after the halt. It is a scarce date in its own right, but it is not the 1909-S VDB and the market price is much lower.

How grade changes the price by tier

Condition is the largest lever on any 1909-S VDB valuation. Because the mintage was so small and the coin circulated in the years after release, most survivors are found in circulated grades from Good through Extremely Fine. Mint-state Red survivors are much scarcer, and each grade point at the top of the scale shifts the price by a wide margin.

A well-worn example graded from Good to Very Fine still carries a strong three-figure numismatic premium over the trivial copper melt floor. Even in the lowest circulated grades, a genuine 1909-S VDB is worth many multiples of any common-date Lincoln cent.

An original circulated coin in Extremely Fine or About Uncirculated jumps a tier. The market rewards remaining wheat detail and rim sharpness heavily on this date because most survivors are worn. Original brown surfaces, un-cleaned, are the specific attribute that certified buyers pay for.

A certified mint-state coin carries the largest premiums. The independent services grade copper cents in three color designations. Brown coins have naturally toned to a chocolate color. Red-Brown coins retain partial original mint luster. Red coins retain full original mint red color across both sides. On the 1909-S VDB, a top-grade Red example trades for many multiples of the same certified grade in Brown.

A single grade point at the top of the scale can shift the price by several thousand dollars. No serious price on this date should be committed to without a recent certified auction comparison in the exact grade and color designation.

Copper melt floor: the trivial and illegal option

The copper in a 1909-S VDB is essentially irrelevant to its market value. The math is worth showing anyway, because it illustrates the size of the numismatic premium.

Worked example: copper melt floor

The coin weighs 3.11 grams, of which 95 percent is copper. That works out to 2.9545 grams of pure copper, or about 0.006517 troy pound of copper per coin. At an illustrative copper price of 4.50 dollars per pound, the pure metal content is 0.006517 multiplied by 4.50, which equals about 0.029 dollars per coin, roughly three cents worth of copper.

Compare that 3-cent metal floor to the strong three-figure numismatic premium a genuine 1909-S VDB carries even in Good grade. On a certified mint-state Red example, the numismatic premium runs many thousands of times the metal content.

Federal Treasury rule 31 CFR Part 82 also prohibits melting United States one-cent and five-cent coins, and prohibits export of these coins in bulk for melting. Penalties can reach 10,000 dollars per violation and up to five years in federal prison. Melting a 1909-S VDB is a bad idea on the numismatic math and on the law.

The added-S counterfeit and altered-date fakes

The 1909-S VDB is one of the most counterfeited United States cents. The combination of a very low mintage, a very high market price, and a common look-alike coin makes it a target for altered pieces. Most fakes fall into a small number of patterns that a careful check can catch.

The most common attack is the added mint mark. A bad actor takes a genuine 1909 VDB Philadelphia cent, which carries no mint mark, and adds a fabricated S under the date on the obverse. The base coin is the correct bronze alloy, the correct weight, the correct diameter, and the correct year. The only fabricated element is the S letter itself.

A second common attack is the altered date. A common 1908-S or 1909-S plain cent has its date modified to read 1909 with VDB on the reverse. On the S plain the reverse simply has no initials, so this alteration usually shows a soft or tooled reverse rim near where a VDB should sit. On earlier dates the obverse date shows disturbed metal or wrong digit shapes under magnification.

A third pattern is the outright cast or die-struck copy. Some of these are made from copied dies and can be close in weight and diameter. Diameter, edge finish, and the exact shape of Lincoln's beard, coat, and shoulder are the tells a trained grader uses to separate them from an authentic strike.

Detection tips a knowledgeable collector uses on any candidate 1909-S VDB:

Examine the S under the date on the obverse under 10x magnification for tool marks, wrong shape, wrong depth, or a slight halo of disturbed metal around the letter.
Confirm the reverse carries a clean, evenly struck V.D.B. centered at the bottom rim between the wheat stalks, at the same depth as the surrounding detail.
Weigh the coin on a jewelry scale that reads to two decimal places. A weight far outside 3.05 to 3.15 grams flags a plated core, a base-metal replica, or a coin cast from another cent.
Measure the diameter. A genuine 1909 cent measures 19.05 mm across. Cast copies frequently shrink by a fraction of a millimeter as the metal cools.
Compare the coin against a certified reference photograph of a known-genuine 1909-S VDB before treating it as authentic.

These checks screen out most fakes. They are not sufficient at the price levels the 1909-S VDB commands. Any purchase in the three-figure range or higher should be certified by an independent grading service before funds move.

The cleaned-coin trap on a small copper cent

The single fastest way to destroy value on a genuine 1909-S VDB is to clean it. A bright, shiny surface may look more valuable to an untrained eye, but independent grading services detect cleaning almost every time on a small copper cent.

Copper is soft and reactive. A rub with a cloth leaves fine parallel scratches under magnification. A dip in a chemical brightener strips the natural surface film and leaves the coin an unnatural pink or orange color that graders recognize on sight. A rinse under running water can pull loose particles across the surface and add hairline scratches.

A cleaned 1909-S VDB gets a details grade rather than a numeric grade. On this date the market discount from a cleaned coin to a comparable original coin is typically 40 to 70 percent. On a coin worth thousands of dollars in original condition, the absolute dollar loss on cleaning is severe.

The rule is simple. Do not clean the coin. Not with polish, not with a jewelry cloth, not with baking soda, not with an ultrasonic bath, not with a rinse under warm water. If a suspected 1909-S VDB is dirty, leave it dirty and let a professional look at it exactly as found.

How to work through a candidate coin

The steps below are the sequence a serious hobbyist runs on any coin claimed to be a 1909-S VDB. Follow them in order before treating the coin as anything more than a common wheat cent.

Confirm the coin is a Lincoln wheat cent. The obverse shows Abraham Lincoln facing right. The reverse shows the words ONE CENT and UNITED STATES OF AMERICA flanked by two heads of wheat. Cents from 1959 through 2008 show the Lincoln Memorial on the reverse and are not part of the wheat series.
Read the date at the bottom right of the obverse. The date must read 1909 clearly. If any digit is soft, tooled, or shows disturbed metal around it, treat the coin as suspect.
Look for the S mint mark below the date. A small S sits under the 09 of the date on the obverse of a San Francisco strike. No letter under the date means the coin was struck at Philadelphia, which is not the same coin.
Turn the coin over and confirm the VDB initials. Look at the bottom rim of the reverse, between the ends of the two wheat stalks. A clean V.D.B. centered along the rim confirms the design variety. No initials means the coin is the 1909-S plain, struck later that year and much less valuable.
Weigh the coin on a jewelry scale. A genuine 1909 cent weighs 3.11 grams. A digital scale that reads to two decimal places is enough. Any weight far outside 3.05 to 3.15 grams points to a plated core, a fake, or a badly damaged coin.
Screen the S and the VDB under magnification. Look for tool marks around the S, a halo of disturbed metal, or an initial VDB that appears tooled or added to the reverse. Any of these flags an alteration.
Do not clean the coin. Any polishing, dipping, rubbing, or rinsing lowers the grade a professional will assign. Cleaning can cut value by more than half. Preserve the coin exactly as found.
Submit to an independent grading service before selling. A certified grade is the only price signal the market takes seriously on a suspected 1909-S VDB. Given the added-S counterfeit problem and the altered-date fakes, this step is not optional.

The case for third-party grading

Third-party grading is the mechanism that turns a suspected 1909-S VDB into a coin the market will pay a numismatic price for. Certified grading pairs the coin with a printed grade, a printed authentication, and a tamper-evident holder that carries the grade forward through every future sale.

On a coin this often counterfeited, the certification does two things at once. It confirms the S and VDB placement are original and un-altered. It also assigns a numeric grade and, for a mint-state coin, a color designation of Brown, Red-Brown, or Red. The market prices the coin against those two labels together.

The economics work out for the seller in almost every case at this price level. Grading fees on a single coin run in the low tens of dollars. A certified 1909-S VDB in circulated grade sells at a strong three-figure or four-figure premium over a raw coin of the same apparent condition, because the raw coin carries authentication risk the buyer must discount for.

The economics also work out for the buyer. A certified coin can be resold at any time to any collector or dealer at a documented grade. A raw coin, no matter how confidently sold, carries the risk that the next buyer will disagree, will suspect an added S, or will suspect cleaning. That risk shows up as a lower bid.

What your coin is probably not

Most coins that reach a shop counter as a suspected 1909-S VDB turn out to be something else. It is more useful to know the common patterns than to sell yourself on the possibility of a five-figure coin. The list below covers what an alleged 1909-S VDB most often really is.

A common 1909 Philadelphia VDB with no mint mark. Philadelphia struck 27,995,000 VDB cents. The absence of any mint mark below the date on the obverse is diagnostic. This is a real 1909 Lincoln cent with the initials, but the market price is modest, well under the S mint version.

A 1909-S plain cent, no VDB on the reverse. This is a genuine San Francisco Lincoln cent, struck later in 1909 after the initials were removed. It has an S under the date on the obverse but no VDB on the reverse. It is a scarce date on its own, but it is not the 1909-S VDB and the market price is a fraction of the VDB version.

A 1909 Philadelphia cent with a fabricated S added later. This is the classic added-S counterfeit. The base is a real bronze cent of the correct weight and year, but the S under the date is not original. Under 10x magnification the tool marks, halo, or wrong shape typically give it away.

A cast or die-struck full replica. A copy of the entire coin, sometimes made from dies pulled off a real cent. Weight is often close, but diameter, edge finish, and small features on Lincoln's coat and beard rarely match a genuine 1909-S VDB.

A cleaned, polished, or dipped coin. Someone in the family history brightened the surface with a cloth or a chemical dip. Independent grading services detect it, return a details grade, and the market discount is severe. On this date the absolute-dollar loss on cleaning is very large.

A holed, mounted, or defaced example. Lincoln cents were commonly turned into pocket pieces, love tokens, or watch fobs. A holed or mounted 1909-S VDB is a damaged coin regardless of the date. Value is a fraction of an intact circulated example.

A modern novelty replica or copy stamped COPY. Under the federal Hobby Protection Act, replicas of United States coins must be stamped COPY. Some older or unregulated pieces are not marked. Any 1909-S VDB lighter than 3 grams or heavier than 3.2 grams is not a real 1909 cent.

A genuine 1909-S VDB in low circulated grade. This outcome is possible and it is the reason to run the identification steps on every candidate. Even Good grade examples carry a solid three-figure premium. This outcome is also uncommon enough that it should not shape financial decisions until an independent grader confirms the coin.

1909-S VDB Lincoln cent FAQ

How much is a 1909-S VDB penny worth?

A genuine 1909-S VDB in even low circulated grade carries a strong three-figure numismatic premium over the trivial copper melt floor of a few cents. In About Uncirculated and mint-state grades the price runs into the low and mid four figures for Brown examples, higher for Red-Brown, and higher still for full Red.

Certified top-grade Red examples reach the deep five figures at public auction. No price on this date should be committed to without third-party certification and a recent auction comparison in the exact grade and color designation.

Why is the 1909-S VDB the key date of the Lincoln cent series?

The mintage was only 484,000 pieces at the San Francisco Mint, the lowest business-strike mintage of any regular-issue Lincoln cent across more than a century of production. The initials were removed within days of release after Chief Engraver Charles E. Barber and Treasury officials judged them too prominent. Small original mintage, high early demand as a souvenir issue, and later hoarding by generations of Lincoln cent collectors combine to make the 1909-S VDB the scarcest regular-issue cent in the series.

Where is the mint mark on a 1909-S VDB penny?

The S mint mark sits on the obverse of the coin, directly below the date 1909, slightly to the right of center under the second 9. A 1909 dated cent with no mark in that position was struck at Philadelphia and is a much less valuable coin. Any other letter in that position on a 1909 cent is not correct for the series and points to alteration or fabrication.

Where are the VDB initials on a 1909-S VDB penny?

The V.D.B. initials sit centered along the bottom rim of the reverse, in the small space between the ends of the two wheat stalks, just above the rim itself. They read left to right as V, D, B, with small periods after each letter on most strikes. A genuine 1909-S VDB has both the S under the date on the obverse and the VDB along the bottom rim of the reverse.

How can I tell if my 1909-S VDB is fake?

Start with weight and diameter. A genuine 1909 Lincoln cent weighs 3.11 grams and measures 19.05 mm across. Examine the S under the date on the obverse under 10x magnification for tool marks, wrong shape, or a halo of disturbed metal around the letter, which flags an added S on a genuine 1909 Philadelphia coin.

Confirm the reverse carries a clean, evenly struck VDB at the bottom rim between the wheat stalks. Any purchase in the three-figure range or higher must be certified by an independent grading service before funds move.

Is it worth cleaning a 1909-S VDB to make it look better?

No. Cleaning is the fastest way to destroy value on this date. Copper is soft and reactive, and independent grading services detect cleaning almost every time on a small copper cent.

A cleaned coin gets a details grade, and the market discount is typically 40 to 70 percent versus an original example. On a coin worth thousands of dollars, the absolute-dollar loss is severe. Preserve the coin exactly as found and let a certified grader work with the original surfaces.

Can I melt my 1909-S VDB for the copper content?

No. Federal Treasury rule 31 CFR Part 82 prohibits melting United States one-cent and five-cent coins for their metal content, and prohibits bulk export of these coins for melting. Penalties can reach 10,000 dollars per violation and up to five years in federal prison. The rule also has no practical upside: the copper in a 1909-S VDB is worth only a few cents at typical copper prices, and the numismatic value on a genuine coin is thousands of times higher.

What is the difference between the 1909-S VDB and the 1909-S plain cent?

Both are San Francisco strikes of the first-year Lincoln cent with an S under the date on the obverse. The 1909-S VDB carries the designer's initials centered at the bottom rim of the reverse and was struck first, in the run of 484,000 pieces before the initials were removed.

The 1909-S plain was struck later that year without the initials, in a much larger run. The plain is a scarce and collectible date, but the market price is a fraction of the VDB version.

Is the 1909-S VDB Lincoln cent IRA eligible?

No. IRA-eligible metals must be bullion coins or bars struck to specific fineness standards set by the Internal Revenue Service, and collectible coins are excluded by law. A 1909-S VDB is a collectible, and its bronze composition of 95 percent copper is not a precious metal at all. Copper is not an IRA-approved metal under any custodian's rules. For the metals and coins that do qualify, see our page on IRA-eligible metals.

Sources

Wikipedia, 1909-S VDB Lincoln Cent. San Francisco Mint issue with a business-strike mintage of 484,000 pieces, the lowest of any regular-issue Lincoln cent. Confirms bronze composition of 95 percent copper, 2.5 percent tin, and 2.5 percent zinc, mass 3.11 grams, diameter 19.05 mm, plain edge. Confirms the release on August 2, 1909, the discontinuation on August 6, 1909, and the resumption of production without the initials by August 12, 1909. Cites the Professional Coin Grading Service designation of the coin as the "Holy Grail" of Lincoln cent collecting. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1909-S_VDB_Lincoln_Cent. Checked August 2026.
Wikipedia, Lincoln cent. Confirms the design commissioned by President Theodore Roosevelt from sculptor Victor David Brenner for the 100th anniversary of Lincoln's birth on February 12, 1909, the delay to add "In God We Trust" under President William Howard Taft, and the Philadelphia mintage of 27,995,000 VDB cents in 1909 with no mint mark. Confirms the return of the Brenner initials as small letters below Lincoln's shoulder on the obverse in 1918 and the composition change to zinc-coated steel in 1943 during World War II. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lincoln_cent. Checked August 2026.
Wikipedia, Victor David Brenner. Biographical reference for the Lithuanian-born medallic sculptor who designed the Lincoln cent obverse and reverse in 1909. Confirms his portrait medal of Lincoln predated the coin design and was the inspiration for the obverse bust. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victor_David_Brenner. Checked August 2026.
United States Mint, Coin History and Artistry. Reference page for the history of United States coin designs and mint marks, including the introduction of the Lincoln cent in 1909 and the role of the San Francisco Mint. usmint.gov/learn/history-and-artistry. Checked August 2026.
Electronic Code of Federal Regulations. 31 CFR Part 82: Prohibition on the Exportation, Melting, or Treatment of 5-Cent and One-Cent Coins. Treasury regulation prohibiting the melting and bulk export of United States one-cent and five-cent coins for their metal content, with penalties up to 10,000 dollars per violation and up to five years imprisonment. ecfr.gov/current/title-31/subtitle-B/chapter-I/part-82. Checked August 2026.
Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School. 18 U.S. Code section 331: Mutilation, diminution, and falsification of coins. Federal statute cited for defacement and fraudulent alteration of United States coins, including altered mint marks used to fabricate a scarce variety such as the 1909-S VDB. law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/331. Checked August 2026.
Federal Trade Commission, Hobby Protection Act, 15 U.S.C. section 2101 et seq. Federal statute requiring imitation numismatic items to be marked with the word COPY. Cited for the treatment of modern replicas and novelty pieces of the 1909-S VDB Lincoln cent. ftc.gov/legal-library/browse/statutes/hobby-protection-act. Checked August 2026.

By the Harry’s Coins Editorial team. Last reviewed August 2026.