With the end of the minting of any new pennies, some may be searching their change jars to see if there are valuable coins in their possession.
The U.S. Treasury Department stopped minting new one-cent coins as the cost to produce the currency bearing Abraham Lincoln’s image was more than it was worth to produce. But with the resulting penny shortage, there has been renewed interest in checking for notable features that could establish some pennies as highly valuable.
Some pennies produced between 1909 and 1915 and referred to as “wheat pennies” are considered “the most commonly collected U.S. coins today,” according to a Nexstar report.
“Between 1909 and 1958, pennies featured two sheaves of wheat on their reverse. During those nearly 50 years, small changes were made to the pennies. Early on, the initials of sculptor-engraver Victor David Brenner appeared on the reverse of the penny,” the report explains.
To commemorate the last US penny minted 11/12/25 we share a Wheat Penny from the MRHC permanent collection. Lincoln Wheat Cent was first minted in 1909 to honor the centennial of Lincoln’s birth. About 26 billion were minted in its 50 year run.
E pluribus unum – Out of many, one pic.twitter.com/Bj9RKyFIRS
— Marquette History (@MarquetteMuseum) November 14, 2025
According to the report:
A penny bearing “V.D.B.” beneath its wheat sheaves was among those that sold in 2022; that coin alone went for $365,000. In January, a highly graded wheat penny from the same series sold for $99,000 at auction.
ADVERTISEMENTAnother, minted in Denver in 1943, sold for $840,000 in 2021, according to a listing by Heritage Auctions. Pennies of that series were made of bronze rather than the zinc-coated steel the U.S. was using at the time, while amid the war effort. Another wheat penny from 1944 — made entirely of steel, giving it a silver appearance instead of copper or bronze — sold at auction for $168,000 in January.
A wheat penny from 1909 could be “worth anywhere from $700 to $1,500 depending on the coin’s grade,” coin expert and collector Dave Sorrick told Nexstar’s KSNF/KODE.
US Treasurer Brandon Beach was on hand for the history-making moment last week as the penny, which has been in circulation since 1793, was pressed for the very last time.
.@TreasurerBeach, who oversees the U.S. Mint, pushes a button to create the last ever circulating penny.
The Mint says it’ll be auctioned off. pic.twitter.com/U7ZSrbJC1J
— Michael Stratford (@mstratford) November 12, 2025
The Treasury Department notes that it costs about $56 million per year to make pennies
“Treasury said rising production costs and rapidly changing consumer habits and technology had made production of pennies ‘financially untenable’ and unnecessary, noting that it costs 3.69 cents to make each penny, up from 1.42 cents a decade ago,” Reuters reported.
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Originally from New York, Powers graduated from New York University and eventually made her way to sunny South Florida. Powers also contributes to BizPac Review.
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