The 1793 Chain Large Cent was the first official one cent coin ever created by the United States Mint in Philadelphia. Like the other two 1793 large one cent designs, the Chain Cent has an image of Lady Liberty on the front
Of the three large one cent coins produced in 1793, the Liberty Cap Large Cent is the rarest. Only about 11,056 Liberty Cap Large Cents were minted and only two in mint condition are known to exist today.
The 1856 Flying Eagle Cent is one of the most highly sought after pennies by collectors. In fact, the 1856 Flying Eagle penny is so popular that it is responsible for popularizing coin collecting in the United States.
About 1,194 1909 matte proof pennies were made with the designer’s initials, V.D.B., but for an unknown reason less than 200 are known to exist today.
The 1969-S Doubled Die Obverse penny has an interesting story that links it to several counterfeit pennies made in the same year that also feature doubled die markings.
During World War II, the government needed all the copper in the United States to make ammunition for the war. Due to this, in 1942 the U.S. Mint stopped using copper and made steel pennies for the first and only time in 1943.
The 1943-S Lincoln Cent that was accidentally stuck on a bronze planchet is such a rare error that only six known examples have been confirmed by experts.
Like most of the pennies on this list, the rarity of the 1944-S Lincoln Steel Penny is due to it being an accidental error. In 1944, pennies were supposed to revert back from steel to copper/bronze.
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