Just what am I looking for in these rolls of pennies?

Aside from the obvious errors, wheat pennies and older, and foreign coins, that is. There is a an unimaginable number of all types of minor and major errors seen on pennies. here are some more notable ones to be on the look out for.

As a side note: There is an unfathomable amount of ground to cover when it comes to searching pennies. This article will cover Memorial reverse cents to date, i.e. 1959 and onward. A guide on Wheat reverse pennies from 1909 to 1958 may pop up fairly soon, but for now I’ll focus on what you are most likely to come across. For the purposes of this guide, I will not list every single example of DDO, DDR, or other varieties for the sake of not turning this post into a full length novel. This should be an easily digestible 5-minute read. The more well known and valuable errors will be covered in greater depth and the hand full of particularly desirable varieties will covered as well.

Small and Large Dates:

1960 Small Date

1960 Large Date over Small Date

1970-S Small Date

All 1974 pennies have the possibility of being either small or large date. No one particular mint or size has any particular value over the others. They are fun to pick out and classify but you may not hang on to every single you come across as all types are so common.

1982 and 1982-D have multiple planchet styles, date sizes, and values. This is certainly a topic worthy of further research and it may serve you well to check out this link to read more.

Repunched Mint Marks:

1960-D D/D

1961-D D/D

1987-D D/D

There are many more thought the 60’s through 80’s but the ones mentioned above are the most desired versions. If a mint mark looks a little off on a 80’s or older coin, it’s worth further inspection.

WAM and CLAM

Wide AM, or WAM as well as Close AM, or CLAM, are attributes assigned to the gap between the “A” and “M” in the word America on the reverse of Memorial cents. There are a few varieties that are more common to find than others, but all hold at least a minor premium in better conditions. The 1992 close am varieties are more desirable and generally fetch higher premiums than the wide am varieties listed below.

1992 Close AM

1992-D Close AM

1998-S Close AM (Proof Sets)

All of the Wide AM varieties will be from Philadelphia, not Denver. The 1996, 1998, and 2000 are more common and may fetch a few dollars in MS conditions. The 1999 WAM is the rarest of wide varieties and can reach hundreds of dollars if in MS conditions.

1996 Wide AM

1998 Wide AM

1999 Wide AM

1999-S Wide AM (Proof Sets)

2000 Wide AM

Doubled Die Obverse:

There are a lot of these, and still some lie in hoards and change jars undiscovered. Here are some of the better known DDO’s that you may happen across. A wise old man once told me that there is usually some type of error on every year and mint mark of penny out there, due to them being produced in such great numbers. It’s impossible to inspect billions of coins a year, so every once in a while a new error gets out into the hands of roll hunters, coin collectors, and those with more astute observational skills.

1963-D Doubling on the “3” in 1963. It appears as though another “3” of a different style lies below the normal 3.

1969-S Very noticeable DDO on text. There is also an over date noticeable on some varieties. The ’69-S is a quite desirable DDO.

1971 features a DDO that is most noticeable in the word “Liberty.”

1972 features multiple varieties of doubled dies. Here is a link to learn more on the many types.

1980 features a more subtle DDO that impacts “Liberty” and the date.

1983 is a unique example that features both a DDO and a DDR. The DDO is more subtle but is visible in the text of the obverse.

1984 is one of the “doubled ears” and a quite desirable one at that. Lincolns ear will appear elongated and with a ridge near the bottom of the ear lobe.

1984 is one of the “doubled ears” and a quite desirable one at that. Lincolns ear will appear elongated and with a ridge near the bottom of the ear lobe. 1988 features the same error as the 1984 doubled ear lobe.

1995 is one of the most coveted DDO varieties available, and features bold and very noticeable doubling in the word “Liberty.” This one is hard to miss.

1995-D houses the same style of vertical doubling in the word “Liberty,” that the 1995 Philadelphia minted coin features.

1997 is another doubled ear lobe variety that is similar to the 1984 and 1988 DDO’s previously listed.

2006, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2018-D all have more minor DDO’s that can be quite collectible and desired by coin collectors as well. More information may be found here.

Doubled Die Reverse:

1964 shows doubling on text with observable split serifs.

1966 features doubling most noticeable in the “UN” of United States as well as showcasing a fantastic example of doubled designer initials, a somewhat uncommon area for doubling to occur in.

1968-D also shows doubling in the designer initials and the words “of” and “es” in States.

1982 has a nice DDR variant on the small date variety. Here is a link to determine the difference in small vs. large dates on 1982 pennies. Here is a link on the doubled die variety shown on the same coins.

1983 has a quite bold and noticeable DDR seen on the text of the coin.

1994 features one of my favorite DDR examples on any coin. The 3 rightmost pillars on the Lincoln memorial show bold doubling and appear much wider than the remaining unaffected pillars.

1994 features one of my favorite DDR examples on any coin. The 3 rightmost pillars on the Lincoln memorial show bold doubling and appear much wider than the remaining unaffected pillars. One of the most recent desired DDR’s is on the 2011 penny. There is notable thickness on “United States of America,” “ONE CENT,” and initials.

Other Errors:

The Cherrypickers Guide made the 1969-D penny famous for the missing initial error. This error likely appeared due to over polished dies, similar to half dollars of the same era. There are missing initials from 1969 up the mid 1970’s on Denver minted pennies as well, and a quick visual inspection is the best way to locate these errors.

Die clashes, lamination errors, blank and clipped planchets, and the very rare brockage errors are also potentially hidden away in penny rolls. These are errors that may occur on any year or mint mark, as well as any denomination of coin, so it’s best to be familiar with them prior to ever cracking open a roll.

Here is an outstanding resource on various mint errors that may occur on any coin.

Here is an amazing resource for Lincoln Pennies that covers everything I have touched on above, as well as much more information.