Lincoln Memorial Cent: Which Years Are Actually Worth Keeping
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Short on time? The essentials
- The Lincoln Memorial reverse ran from 1959 through 2008, designed by Frank Gasparro for the 150th anniversary of Lincoln's birth. It replaced the wheat reverse and was itself replaced by the 2009 bicentennial designs and the 2010 Union shield.
- Composition changed in 1982. Cents dated 1959 through mid-1982 are 95 percent copper and weigh 3.11 grams. Cents dated late 1982 through 2008 are copper-plated zinc, 97.5 percent zinc and 2.5 percent copper, and weigh 2.5 grams.
- 1982 is the transition year, and both compositions were struck. Sort by weight on a jewelry scale.
- The most valuable Memorial-era coins are the doubled die varieties: the 1969-S doubled die obverse, the 1972 doubled die obverse (FS-101), the 1983 doubled die reverse, and the 1995 doubled die obverse. All command strong premiums when authenticated.
- The 1960 small date, especially from the Philadelphia mint, is scarcer than the 1960 large date and trades for a modest premium in mint state.
- The 1969-S doubled die obverse is one of the most frequently counterfeited modern cents. Do not send funds against a raw coin. Independent authentication is essential.
- Copper melt value on a pre-1982 bronze cent runs a small multiple of face at typical copper prices, but melting is prohibited by federal law under 31 CFR 82.1.
- Circulated common-date Memorial cents in a jar are, in almost every case, worth face value. Sorting by date and weight is the right first step, not shipping to a grader.
On this page
- The Lincoln Memorial cent series at a glance
- The 1982 composition split and how to sort by weight
- What almost every Memorial cent is actually worth
- The dates and varieties that carry a premium
- Counterfeit warning on the 1969-S doubled die
- When to submit a Memorial cent for grading
- Copper melt math and the federal melt ban
- What your Memorial cent is probably not
- Lincoln Memorial cent FAQ
The Lincoln Memorial cent series at a glance
The Lincoln Memorial reverse ran on the one-cent coin from 1959 through 2008. Frank Gasparro designed the reverse for the 150th anniversary of Lincoln's birth in 1959, and it replaced the wheat ears that Victor D. Brenner had drawn for the original 1909 issue. The obverse portrait stayed the same across the entire fifty-year run.
The Memorial series was struck at three mints: Philadelphia with no mint mark, Denver with a D, and San Francisco with an S. San Francisco struck circulation cents through 1974, then shifted to proof-only production for the rest of the series. The design was retired at the end of 2008 for the four 2009 bicentennial reverses, then replaced by Lyndall Bass's Union shield in 2010.
The head count is enormous. Billions of Memorial cents were struck across the fifty-year run. That supply is the single most important fact for anyone thinking about value on a random Memorial cent pulled out of a jar. The scarcity is almost never on the ordinary date.
The 1982 composition split and how to sort by weight
The Memorial series is the coin family that lived through the copper-to-zinc transition. Cents dated 1959 through most of 1982 are 95 percent copper, with the balance in tin and zinc in the early years and pure zinc after the 1962 alloy change. Cents dated late 1982 and after are copper-plated zinc, 97.5 percent zinc and 2.5 percent copper.
The switch happened mid-year. The first zinc-core cents were struck at the Philadelphia Mint on January 7, 1982, per the U.S. Treasury history of the Lincoln cent. Denver did not convert to the new composition until October 21, 1982. Both compositions circulate under the same 1982 date, which is why weight is the deciding fact, not the year.
| Attribute | Bronze cent (1959 through mid-1982) | Copper-plated zinc cent (late 1982 through 2008) |
|---|---|---|
| Composition | 95 percent copper, balance tin and zinc (1959 through 1962) or 95 percent copper and 5 percent zinc (1962 through 1982) | 97.5 percent zinc core with a 2.5 percent copper outer plating |
| Weight | 3.11 grams | 2.5 grams |
| Diameter | 19.05 mm (0.750 inch) | 19.05 mm (0.750 inch) |
| Edge | Plain | Plain |
| Magnet test | Does not stick | Does not stick (the copper plating is over zinc, not steel) |
| Design | Lincoln obverse by Brenner; Lincoln Memorial reverse by Frank Gasparro | Lincoln obverse by Brenner; Lincoln Memorial reverse by Frank Gasparro |
Sources: Wikipedia Lincoln cent article, citing the U.S. Mint historical composition record, and Wikipedia coverage of the Public Law 93-441 and the 1982 transition. Checked August 2026.
The weight test settles the composition every time. A jewelry scale that reads to one-tenth of a gram is enough. A cent that weighs about 3.1 grams is bronze. A cent that weighs about 2.5 grams is copper-plated zinc. The difference is roughly 0.6 grams, which is easily visible on any digital scale.
What almost every Memorial cent is actually worth
The honest answer for the version most people own is one cent. A circulated Memorial cent pulled from change, a jar, or an inherited coffee can is a common coin. Face value is the correct starting posture on the entire series unless the date, mint mark, or a specific variety matches the short list of things worth keeping.
Two things move a Memorial cent above face. The first is condition. An uncirculated coin from an original mint set, stored well since issue, will trade above face for the better dates and can bring a real premium in the top-tier grades assigned by an independent grader. The second is variety. A handful of dates carry known doubled-die or small-date varieties that a collector will pay a premium for when the coin is authenticated.
Circulated common dates from Philadelphia and Denver, the bulk of every jar, are essentially interchangeable with pocket change. San Francisco proof issues were sold to collectors originally. They carry small premiums in the low single digits per coin when the packaging is intact. Individual circulated S-mint proofs pulled from mixed hoards are a harder sell than they look.
The dates and varieties that carry a premium
The short list below is where the actual value of the Memorial series lives. Every entry needs authentication before a serious price. A raw coin, however promising it looks under a phone camera, will not command the numbers a certified example commands in the market.
| Date and variety | What to look for | Premium driver |
|---|---|---|
| 1960 Small Date (Philadelphia) | Digits in the date are noticeably smaller and thinner than the 1960 large date. The zero is small and open. | Genuinely scarcer than the large date. The Philadelphia small date is the one that matters most; the Denver small date exists in much larger numbers. |
| 1969-S Doubled Die Obverse | Strong doubling on LIBERTY and IN GOD WE TRUST on the obverse. The San Francisco mint mark itself does not double. | One of the scarcest and most valuable Memorial-era varieties. Certified examples sit at the top of the series. Also one of the most counterfeited. |
| 1970-S Small Date | Level 7 in the date sits flush with the other digits rather than dropping below. Softer overall date impression. | Scarcer than the 1970-S large date. Modest premiums for circulated coins, stronger premiums in mint state. |
| 1972 Doubled Die Obverse (FS-101) | Clear doubling on the date and on LIBERTY. The strong doubled die of the year is the FS-101 variety catalogued in the Cherrypickers' Guide. | The best known Memorial-era doubled die outside of 1955. Widely faked. Certified FS-101 examples carry meaningful premiums. |
| 1982 varieties (seven types) | Small date and large date exist in both the bronze and copper-plated zinc compositions, across Philadelphia and Denver. A jewelry scale plus a magnifier separates the seven combinations. | The 1982-D bronze small date is the tough one and drove real market attention when confirmed. Most 1982 cents in the wild are common. |
| 1983 Doubled Die Reverse | Doubling shows on the reverse lettering: E PLURIBUS UNUM and ONE CENT. The obverse looks normal. | A visible, well-documented reverse doubling. Uncommon in circulated grade and stronger in mint state. |
| 1984 Doubled Die Obverse (Doubled Ear) | Clear doubling on Lincoln's earlobe. Look for a distinct second lobe rather than a smear. | Naked-eye doubled ear is a well-known variety collectors track. |
| 1992 Close AM (reverse) | On the reverse, the A and M of AMERICA nearly touch. The normal 1992 has a clear gap between the letters. | The Close AM style was intended for proof dies; a small number reached circulation and are scarce. |
| 1995 Doubled Die Obverse | Doubling visible on LIBERTY and IN GOD WE TRUST. Slightly more subtle than the 1972 doubling. | Discovered in circulation. Meaningful premiums in mint state; modest premiums in circulated grades. |
| 1998, 1999, 2000 Wide AM (reverse) | Wide space between A and M in AMERICA on the reverse. Normal business strikes for these years have a close AM. | The Wide AM style, meant for proof dies, appeared on a small number of business strikes. The 1999 is the scarcest of the three. |
Sources: Fivaz and Stanton, Cherrypickers' Guide to Rare Die Varieties of United States Coins, cited in the Wikipedia Lincoln cent article and the Wikipedia doubled die article. John Wexler, DoubledDie.com variety attributions. Checked August 2026.
Two rules run under the whole list. Doubling is not always doubling. Die deterioration, machine doubling, and worthless post-strike damage can all look similar to a real doubled die at first glance. A confirmed FS-number attribution from an established grader or from a reference like Wexler's DoubledDie.com is the deciding fact, not a phone-camera close-up.
Second, condition compounds the variety premium. A worn 1972 doubled die is a scarce coin. A certified mint-state 1972 doubled die from a reputable third-party grader is a much scarcer coin, and the price gap between the two grades is the main lever a seller controls.
Counterfeit warning on the 1969-S doubled die
The 1969-S doubled die obverse is one of the most frequently faked modern Lincoln cents. The reasons are simple. Genuine examples are scarce enough that a wide gap sits between the raw common 1969-S cent and the certified doubled die, and casual sellers online are not usually equipped to spot altered or counterfeit coins.
The common fake patterns include machine-doubled coins passed off as the true doubled die, coins altered by adding artificial doubling to the die letters, and pieces where the S mint mark itself shows doubling. The genuine 1969-S doubled die obverse does not double the mint mark, only the master-die elements above it.
The safest posture is that a raw 1969-S with doubling that a phone camera can see is almost certainly not the coin it appears to be. Genuine certified examples surface from long-held collections and from careful cherry-pickers. Do not wire funds against a raw coin. Independent third-party grading is the only responsible next step for a coin the owner believes to be a genuine 1969-S doubled die.
When to submit a Memorial cent for grading
Grading has a cost. Independent third-party services charge a per-coin fee, plus shipping and insurance both ways, plus the time cost of packing and tracking the submission. That cost sets a floor: a coin has to be worth clearly more than the total grading cost after fees for the submission to make sense.
- Rule out common coins first. Check the date, mint mark, and weight. If the coin is a circulated common date without a variety, the answer is face value and no grading fee is warranted. Save the money for something worth submitting.
- Weigh the coin on a jewelry scale. A 1982 cent that weighs 3.11 grams is bronze. A 1982 cent that weighs 2.5 grams is copper-plated zinc. A pre-1982 date that weighs 2.5 grams is a mis-struck coin worth further inspection; a post-1982 date that weighs 3.11 grams is likewise unusual and worth a closer look.
- Confirm the variety before submitting. For a suspected doubled die, cross-check the coin against high-resolution photographs of the exact FS-number variety on Wexler's DoubledDie.com or the Cherrypickers' Guide before you pay a grading fee. Machine doubling and die deterioration are the two most common false positives.
- Do not clean the coin. Any polish, dip, or scrub lowers the grade an independent grader will assign, sometimes to a "details" holder that carries a fraction of the market price of a straight-graded coin. Preserve the coin exactly as found.
- Choose the grading tier that fits the coin. Grading services offer tiered fee structures based on declared value. Submitting a modest premium coin on the top-tier express service can cost more than the coin is worth. Match the tier to the realistic value.
- Package with care and use tracked, insured shipping. Loose coins knock and scratch each other in transit. Use approved flips or holders, follow the grader's packing guidelines, and use tracked and insured shipping in both directions.
Copper melt math and the federal melt ban
The frontier for Memorial cents is collectible, not metallurgical. Melt-value math is worth knowing so a seller can spot when a "we buy pre-1982 copper cents" offer is a fair price for the coin as a coin rather than as scrap. Deeper melt-value guidance on silverware, sterling scrap, and non-coin melt lives on separate resources.
What your Memorial cent is probably not
Most Memorial cents that walk into a shop or arrive in a message are not the coins the owner is hoping to sell. Knowing the honest patterns saves time on both sides. The list below covers what a Memorial cent most often turns out to be.
A common circulated cent worth face value. This is by far the most frequent outcome. The date and mint mark are ordinary, the coin has seen years of pocket wear, and the melt content is either irrelevant (bronze, protected by the federal melt ban) or trivially below face (zinc).
A "doubled die" that is actually machine doubling. Machine doubling is post-strike movement of the die against the coin as it exits the press. It looks like doubling on some letters but shows as flat, shelf-like shifts rather than true rounded doubled impressions. It carries no premium.
An off-center strike or die crack of no significant value. Minor off-centers and small die cracks are common on Memorial-era coins and rarely change the price. Serious off-center strikes and dramatic die failures do carry a premium; small ones do not.
A cleaned coin that has lost most of its potential grade. Bronze cents polished or dipped bright are common in inherited collections. They will grade "details" at an independent grader, which cuts the market value against a straight-graded example of the same technical grade.
A "rare" 1982 cent that turns out to be one of the common combinations. Six of the seven 1982 variety combinations are common. Only the 1982-D bronze small date is genuinely scarce, and it needs weight plus date-size confirmation before any premium.
A coin someone in the family already tried to sell to a local shop and passed on. If a professional buyer already looked at the coin and offered face or a small premium, the market is telling the story. A second opinion is fine, but do not pay a grading fee expecting a different answer without a specific variety in hand.
Lincoln Memorial cent FAQ
How much is a Lincoln Memorial cent worth?
Almost all circulated Memorial cents from 1959 through 2008 are worth exactly one cent. The exceptions are a short list of doubled-die and small-date varieties that carry strong collector premiums when authenticated, and top-grade certified mint-state examples of the better dates. The default posture on any random Memorial cent is face value until a variety or a genuine mint-state grade is confirmed.
Are Memorial cents made of copper?
Only the ones dated 1959 through most of 1982. Those cents are 95 percent copper. Cents dated late 1982 through 2008 are copper-plated zinc, with a 97.5 percent zinc core and a 2.5 percent copper outer plating. Weigh the coin on a jewelry scale to be sure: bronze cents weigh 3.11 grams and copper-plated zinc cents weigh 2.5 grams.
Which Memorial cent is worth the most money?
The 1969-S doubled die obverse and the 1972 doubled die obverse are the two Memorial-era coins with the highest documented certified prices, in the many thousands of dollars in top grades. The 1995 doubled die obverse, the 1983 doubled die reverse, and the 1982-D bronze small date follow. Values are qualitative and grade-dependent; independent authentication is required before any specific price.
Is the 1982 penny worth anything?
Most 1982 cents are common. The year is important because both copper and copper-plated zinc cents were struck under the 1982 date at both Philadelphia and Denver, and small-date and large-date subtypes exist for each. The genuinely scarce combination is the 1982-D bronze small date, which weighs 3.11 grams and has the smaller date style. A jewelry scale plus a magnifier separate the common combinations from the one that matters.
Can I melt my copper Memorial cents for the copper value?
No. Melting or exporting United States one-cent and five-cent coins is prohibited by federal law under 31 CFR 82.1. The rule was adopted in 72 FR 61055 on October 29, 2007. The prohibition covers the export, melting, and treatment of these coins for their metal content, not just industrial-scale operations.
How can I tell a real 1972 doubled die from a fake?
The genuine 1972 doubled die obverse (FS-101) shows clear, rounded doubling on the date and the words LIBERTY and IN GOD WE TRUST, with matching thickness and depth across the doubled elements. Machine doubling looks flat and shelf-like and does not carry a premium. Match the coin against high-resolution photographs of the FS-101 variety on Wexler's DoubledDie.com or in the Cherrypickers' Guide before submitting a coin for grading.
Are proof Memorial cents worth more than regular ones?
Proof Memorial cents were struck at San Francisco with an S mint mark for collector sets. In their original packaging, they carry small premiums over face. Individual proof cents pulled from broken sets carry less premium because they lack the provenance and the packaging that verifies the strike type. The 1990 no-S proof cent is a scarce exception and carries strong premiums when authenticated.
Should I have my Memorial cents professionally graded?
Only if the coin is a confirmed variety or an original mint-state example of a better date, and only when the realistic market value clearly exceeds the grading fee, shipping, and insurance. A circulated common-date Memorial cent should never be submitted; the fee will exceed the value many times over. For a suspected doubled die, cross-check the exact FS-number variety against reference photographs before paying to submit.
Sources
- Wikipedia, Lincoln cent. Physical specifications for the Memorial-era coin: 2.5 grams (post-1982 copper-plated zinc), 3.11 grams (bronze 1959 through 1982), 19.05 mm diameter, plain edge. Composition history and 1982 transition dates: first Philadelphia zinc cent struck January 7, 1982; Denver conversion October 21, 1982. Coverage of the 1960 small date and large date scarcity levels, the 1955 doubled die precedent, and the Frank Gasparro Memorial reverse for the 150th anniversary of Lincoln's birth. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lincoln_cent. Checked August 2026.
- Wikipedia, Doubled die. Definition of hub doubling, the classification system for doubled-die varieties, and the reference network including John Wexler's DoubledDie.com and Error-Ref.com for attribution numbers used in the Cherrypickers' Guide (FS-101 style). Coverage of the 1955 doubled die as the reference variety for the series. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doubled_die. Checked August 2026.
- U.S. Department of the Treasury, History of the Lincoln Cent. Composition and design history reference cited in Wikipedia's Lincoln cent article, including the 1962 alloy simplification to 95 percent copper and 5 percent zinc and the 1982 authority for the copper-and-zinc composition change under Public Law 93-441. home.treasury.gov. Checked August 2026.
- United States Mint, Coin Specifications. Reference for standard bronze cent 3.11 gram weight, 19.05 mm diameter, and design designer attributions across the wheat and Memorial reverses. usmint.gov/learn/history-and-artistry. Checked August 2026.
- Cornell Legal Information Institute, 31 CFR 82.1 - Prohibitions. Text of the regulation prohibiting the export, melting, or treatment of United States one-cent and five-cent coins. Source: 72 FR 61055, October 29, 2007. Authority: 31 U.S.C. 5111(d). law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/31/82.1. Checked August 2026.
- John Wexler, DoubledDie.com. Attribution numbers and reference photographs for Lincoln cent doubled-die varieties, including the 1969-S DDO, 1972 DDO FS-101, 1983 DDR, 1984 doubled ear, and 1995 DDO. Cited in the Wikipedia doubled die article as the primary variety reference used by the numismatic hobby. doubleddie.com. Checked August 2026.
- Bill Fivaz and J. T. Stanton, Cherrypickers' Guide to Rare Die Varieties of United States Coins. The standard reference for FS-number variety attributions on Lincoln cents and the source of the FS-101 designation cited on the 1969-S DDO, 1972 DDO, and 1995 DDO. Referenced throughout the Wikipedia Lincoln cent and doubled die articles. whitman.com. Checked August 2026.
- CoinWeek, 1955 DDO Lincoln Cent Sells for 124,000 Dollars at GreatCollections.com, March 3, 2020. Reference point on the high end of the doubled die market for the family of Lincoln cent doubling varieties. Cited in the Wikipedia doubled die article. coinweek.com. Checked August 2026.