1953 Penny--A Popular Get for Beginning Numismatists

1953 Penny – The Real Deal

Starting your very own penny collection makes for an engaging hobby. With the large database of pennies in the United States, you might be wondering where and how to start.

Beginners and experienced coin collectors alike love collecting different editions of Lincoln pennies. Other editions cost more than some due to different features, antiquity and overall condition.

Collecting pennies is not that difficult if you know what you’re looking for. These are low mintage quantity, high demand and high grade. With enough knowledge, you’ll be on your way to penny collecting.

Among the collectible pennies worth holding onto is the 1953 wheat penny. It is great because it is inexpensive with good potential for bettering its value, if you know how to get the good ones. Let's find out why present penny collectors like this issue of the wheat head.

Up Close with the 1953 Penny

These Lincoln pennies of 1953 were produced across the United States by all three operational minting facilities then.

Denver produced the most number of pennies in circulation, while San Francisco produced the least. Philadelphia minted both everyday use pennies and the now more expensive proof pennies. So what about this edition of pennies?

Common Features

Most Lincoln cents weigh 3.11 grams, with a diameter of 19.05 mm, a thickness of 1.55 mm, and has plain edges. The penny’s Victor D. Brenner design is the same as that of the 1909 penny. Its obverse has the lateral view portrait of Abraham Lincoln and the reverse features the Wheat Heads in memoria, which is why it is also often called a wheat penny.

Minting Quantity

The total 1953 wheat pennies minted are 1,139,233,800 pieces, 700,515,000 have been produced by the Denver minting facility, 181,835,000 from the San Francisco mint, and 256,755,000 from Philadelphia.

The latter also produced 128,800 proof pennies. Because of the large quantity and the relatively younger age of this issue, the pennies do not really cost much even now.

Minting Quality

The 1953 wheat penny was produced in all three minting facilities.

The pennies from San Francisco bear the S mint mark under the year and those from Denver have the D mint mark. Philadelphia produced pennies do not bear any mint mark.

These are bronze composite pennies made up of 95% copper and 5% tin and zinc mixture. This gives the wheat penny a red brown appearance, especially if it has been circulated. A proof penny in perfect mint state has a more lustrous fully red hue.

Proof pennies have the highest minting quality wherein coins are minted from a blank metal struck by two dies with extreme force.

Improve the Worth of the 1953 Penny

These Lincoln pennies are not at all rare when it was produced and it is due to this great availability that makes these pennies quite inexpensive. In general though, wheat pennies are at least worth three times its original value, unless it is extremely worn out.

Nowadays, the average estimate value of the 1953 Penny is 15 cents for average condition to $4 for mint state. Some 128,800 proof pennies have an average estimated cost of $55 per piece. So what can better the worth of your penny?

Coin grading

Coin grade tells a lot about the penny’s condition and is reliant on coin luster, surface markings, and quality of motif. A penny’s appraised value is determined by its grade from the Sheldon Scale, which takes loads of practice and sharp eyes to establish.

Supply and demand

Although it was not popular in 1953 when it was minted, the proof pennies produced are. Not a lot of these are in circulation so there is an increase in demand. This inverse relation of supply and demand increases the value of available 1953 pennies.

Although the circulated wheat pennies do not amount to much, those with high coin grade are still worth more considering its face value.

If you are lucky to have the proof penny with a grade of MS-67 or higher, you can take comfort in knowing that it is worth as much as $90 and this can even go higher with more demand and less availability. So hold on to that penny.