Coin Values Moving with Precious Metals: Up-Dated 10/14/2024: Gold $2659 | Silver $31.32
Completing 1925 penny value involves two major steps. First: Identify the mint that struck the coin. Branch mint issues on the chart are premium value wheat pennies.
Secondly: Condition, a key factor in deciding on an accurate value. Small differences needed to judging grade are highlighted to compare your coin.
A step by step process is followed to determine how much these old wheat pennies are worth.
Steps Leading to Value:
1925 Lincoln Penny Value | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Condition of Coin | ||||
Date | Good | Fine | Extremely Fine | Uncirculated |
1925 Lincoln Penny Value Up-Dated | 2024 | |||
1925 | $0.08 | $0.46 | $2.38 | $8 |
1925 D | $0.60 | $2.19 | $12 | $55 |
1925 S | $0.78 | $1.91 | $11 | $131 |
Collectors use an approach of determining: Date | Mint Mark | Condition as they evaluate coins. Value is found in key dates, low mintage mint marked issues and quality of the coin - its grade.
Date and Mint Mark Combinations: Branch mints struck small letters as part of the design to identify their production. Match your coin to images to identify the different marks. Collections are formed including dates and mints that struck pennies. Values reflect the scarcity of each variety.
Next step, proceed to the section on Grading Condition: How well a coin is preserved is closely inspected and graded. Comparing your coin to the grading images finds a close match.
Begin with Date and Mint Mark variety.
Three varieties of wheat cents were issued in 1925. It is also a year continuing the trend of branch mints striking fewer coins. With these lower mintages, scarcity in higher grades is notable on the value chart. Early era cents (1909 to 1933) displaying light wear are appreciated by collectors.
No Mintmark Under Date: Philadelphia Mint Struck the Coin
Original mintage numbers place the Philadelphia 1925 cent as Abundant on the rarity scale. 139,949,000 were produced and distributed. Today these coins remain affordable to collectors. They are however an essential part of the early Lincoln cent series.
A nicely defined coin displaying well detailed features of Lincoln is a popular grade and condition.
"D" Mintmark Under Date: Denver Mint Struck the Coin
Many Denver mint 1925 cents are available today. This abundant status is not however the case for examples in Extremely Fine grade and above. A nicely defined coin is noted as Infrequent on a rarity scale. Values displayed on the chart show a sharp rise in better grades.
Judge your coin for eye appeal. In general terms, an overall crisp look verses a worn and tired appearance. Areas of Lincoln's coat sharply defined, his bowtie is distinct and hair retains detail is a coin in the premium grade range.
"S" Mintmark Under Date: San Francisco Mint Struck the Coin
San Francisco wheat cents are popular with collectors. Collecting all date and mintmark varieties per year forms an impressive set. Striving to place higher condition examples of the 1925 San Francisco cent within a set is a challenge. Majority of these cents saw extensive circulation.
Any coin with abundant detail remaining is of interest. On the reverse note the condition of the wheat stalks. A premium coin displays fine parallel lines and distinct wheat grains. These are sought by collectors.
Grading a coin involves judging condition of the devices, legend, and fields against a standard for the grade. Images are compared to your coin helping visualize differences in amount of wear the surface.
Achieving an accurate value involves an accurate determination of grade. When viewing your coin first overall impression is important. Positive signs are even color and no distracting marks.
Uncirculated Grade: One of the pleasures to collecting wheat pennies is obtaining a mint state - uncirculated example. These top-grade cents are avidly sought by collectors. To qualify in this grade a coin is free of wear to any parts of the surface.
Many parts of Lincoln's portrait are high in profile, prone to early wear from contact. One point to judge is narrow your focus to his eye brows. Hold the coin at an angle to a single light source and slowly tilt and rotate. Any wear to the surface shows as a color change on the eye brows and smooth appearance to the metal. Absence of wear is confirmed by a raised and roundness to the eye brows.
Noted on this 1925 penny are the bold features of Lincoln and well raised legend and date. A strong strike has brought out the full design. Original luster remains highlighting an eye appealing coin.
Extremely Fine Grade: Of value to collectors are early Lincoln cents 1909 through 1933 in lightly worn condition. Defining the Extremely Fine grade is light wear confined to only the highest point of the design.
Judging the grade inspects the entire coin and identifies the amount of wear to high points. Lincoln's eye brows are raised above the field and wear quickly. In extremely fine grade, small amounts of wear have flattened the brows just slightly. Importantly, a degree of profile to the design remains.
Extremely fine grade is a collectible condition of Lincoln pennies. A nice even color has toned the example 1925-D cent a warm shade of brown, setting this coin apart from many. Eye appeal is not disturbed by dark spots or discoloration.
Fine Grade: Moderate to heavy wear defines a wheat cent in Fine grade. Heavy wear is located within the central areas and moderate wear is noted towards the rims.
Lincoln's bust is worn to the point of losing most fine detail. A separation of his jaw line from the neck and hair from the forehead is visible. Eye brows are beginning to merge with the cheek and head, however must remain slightly raised.
A nice balance of toning adds eye appeal to old copper cents. Soft shades of light and darker brown blend well adding to the charm.
Good Grade: Heavy wear leveling most of the design is a wheat cent in the Good grade. A strong outline of Lincoln remains along with a readable legend and date.
Lincoln's eye brows have faded into the forehead and cheek. His eye brows once raised and high in profile and are now part of one continuous flat area.
Visual qualities help strengthen value of lower grade wheat cents. Appealing to collectors are coins lacking distracting marks, inspect the surface both obverse and reverse as well as the rims. A wheat cent free of major marks is strong for the grade.
Video | Grading Lincoln Wheat Pennies
Place higher grade coins in individual holders. Small zip lock bags are a good temporary solution. For higher value coins, Grading Lincoln Wheat Pennies expands on the grading process with video, descriptions, and images.
With production of any object, quality varies. The US Mint strives to strike high quality coins and has in place a rigorous control review. Coins are rejected when found in poor quality. Once approved and released into circulation these coins are available to collectors. When reviewing a coin in consideration to add to a collection, a grading inspection to quality is judged.
As part of the grading process, quality of strike is identified and becomes part of its appeal and ultimate value to a collector.
A main focal point that displays quality are the letters of "Liberty". 1925-S pennies are a valuable date and mint in the wheat series. Value climbs quickly up the grading scale. Added attention is given to all details of the coin.
Compare the stronger impression of Liberty to the softer impression. A distinct, visual difference is noted. One coin is evenly struck and higher quality overall than the coin with "Liberty" softly struck.
A subtle improvement of eye appeal increases marketability and strengthens value. As a collectible, a well struck penny draws the attention of a greater number of collectors.
Inspect both the obverse and reverse of coins, looking for quality of strike. Lettering along the rims, bold from the fields indicates a well struck cent.
ReferencesUS Mint. 1926 US Mint Annual Report https://nnp.wustl.edu/library/publisherdetail/51
Lincoln Wheat cents span the years 1909 through 1958. From the top condition coins collected by advanced collectors to worn examples; to an affordable collection for young collectors, the range of value is extensive. Identify your date, mint and condition and refer to the value chart.
Coin series enjoy different levels of popularity within the hobby. Lincoln cents are avidly collected and pursued. Values are directly related to their interest by collectors. Knowing a coin is in demand by many is an understanding into your coins.
★ Coin Values Discovery finds 1925 Penny Value and...
US coin value charts covering cents to gold. Identify your coins using the image links. Date | Mintmarks | Condition are described and imaged with each series. Small details necessary to accurately value are described.