How old does a penny have to be to have value?

Answer 1

This varies from several points of view:

• If the error is a mint error meaning something is wrong with such as a doulbe die error where the image or lettering appears to be doubled on the coin this could be very valuable to a coin collector. The 1995 penny has a double die error if you find one it is worth a lot of money for a 16 year coin.
• Also minting amounts, how many were made at a mint can affect the coin's value. For Lincoln pennies, there are three main mints that produce them. Philadelphia (no mint mark), Denver (D mint Mark under the date) and the San Fransisco mint (S mint mark). S mint marks are usually the rarest for a year of minting and thus have more value. Also, San Francisco stopped minting cents for circulation between 1956 and 1967, and again since 1975.
• So a coin doesn't have to be old to be valuable to a coin collector. But other factors affect its value and condition of the coin affects the value as well.
• In any case the minimum value of a coin that is no longer in circulation and not accepted as currency is that of the metal it is made of. For gold or silver coins this can be significant, but even copper coins (cents or pennies) have some value.