How Penny Value estimates values

A Penny Value estimate is our own opinion of what a genuine US penny usually sells for in a given grade and colour. We work it out from public records of real sales, plus mintage and survival numbers, using a written method. We don't copy any price guide.

Public sale records, grouped by grade

We start from real sales: auction results and completed sales, each with its date, grade and price, including the buyer's fee. Coins with problems, such as cleaning or damage, are left out.

Each sale counts toward the nearest of our grade anchors: Good (G-4), Very Good (VG-8), Fine (F-12), Very Fine (VF-20), Extremely Fine (XF-40), About Uncirculated (AU-50) and Mint State (MS-60, MS-63 and MS-65). Recent sales count more than old ones, and a price far from all the others is dropped unless another sale backs it up. Record prices for exceptional coins stay on file but never set the value of ordinary grades.

Our own grade curve

A sale in a nearby grade is moved to the anchor with a grade curve we fit ourselves, only from our own records. The curve is smooth, never falls as the grade rises, and for uncirculated copper it also steps up from brown to red-brown to red.

From sales to a value

• Several sales at a grade: the low, typical and high values are the middle spread of those sales.
• A few sales: the typical value is their middle, with a wider range around it.
• No sale at that grade: we place the coin from its sales at other grades using the curve, or, for older coins that rarely sell, from how many were made. These ranges are wider still.
• Common pennies: plain rules. Worn zinc cents (1982 to today) are worth face value. Worn copper cents from 1959 to 1982 are worth about their metal. Common worn Wheat cents sell for a few cents each.
• Too rare to price: no number. You'll see "Rarely sold – check with a dealer".

Ranges and rounding

Every value is a range: low, typical and high. We round to whole cents under $1, to the nearest 50¢ up to $10, to whole dollars up to $100, to the nearest $10 up to $1,000, and to two significant figures above that. The low end rounds down and the high end rounds up. Values never fall as the grade rises, and red is never worth less than red-brown or brown.

Between anchors the app fills in the value smoothly; it never guesses above MS-65. The "typical value when worn" is the range from Good to Very Fine, rounded to two significant figures.

Confidence and date

Each value carries the number of sales behind it, a confidence word (high, medium or low) and the quarter it describes. Current values are as of Q4 2026, and we update them every quarter. When there are few recent sales, the app shows a wider range and says so.

Estimates, not offers

Penny Value doesn't buy or sell coins. An estimate is for a genuine coin in the grade shown; actual prices vary. Original colour, eye appeal and problems like cleaning or corrosion all move the price. An estimate isn't an offer, an appraisal or an authentication. For a valuable coin, use a professional grading service.

Penny Value is an Android app for now, so it isn't on the App Store. The values and checks on this page are free to use.Penny Value is an Android app. Open this page on your Android phone to check your own penny with a photo.

Browse every penny · Guide: how we estimate a penny's value