Check the Value of your 1955 D Lincoln Wheat Penny in 2024 (Up To $4,560!)

In this article, we will clarify some key points when collecting or investing in the 1955-D Lincoln Wheat Penny, and we hope it can help you a lot.

As you know, the Lincoln Wheat pennies are highly collected by many hobbyists worldwide, and not only American collectors are interested in them. 

So, despite being an issue that has been around for many years and has produced millions of pieces each year, these tiny pieces can be worth a lot of money.

We have several thematic articles published on our website, Coleccionistas de Monedas, about the selling prices of various years and types of Lincoln cents that we advise you to look at, as there are specific years that are much more valuable and in demand than others.

How much is a 1955-d lincoln wheat penny worth?

On the Coleccionistas de Monedas website, we estimate the value of the 1955 Lincoln penny of the Denver mint according to its degree of preservation to be:

However, some have special features that make them more valuable among collectors. The most valuable 1955-D Lincoln Wheat penny sold at auction in recent years (explained in detail below) are:

What should you value if you want to invest in the 1955 lincoln wheat penny?

The critical aspects of valuing the 1955 Lincoln cent are:

• The mint.
• The grade.
• The tone of the conservation.
• The variants that it has (there are years in which there are more variants of the Lincoln cent than others).
• The manufacturing errors. 

Although it is essential to know the production of a specific mint to be able to value the maximum mintage and the probability of finding 1955 Lincoln cents of one mint more than another, not always the units of the mint with the highest production are the least valued or, on the contrary, the Lincoln cents of the mints with the lowest production are not always the most demanded.

#1 Find out the mint mark type of your coin

Notwithstanding the above, here are the different productions of the three mints that minted 1955 Lincoln Wheat Reverse pennies, Philadelphia, Denver, and San Francisco, for your information:

– Philadelphia without mintmark with a mintage of 33,058,000 pieces and only 378,200 pieces in Proof quality. It is the only mint minted in the proof quality of the three.

– Denver with a mint mark under the date with the letter “D” and production of 563,257,500 units.

– San Francisco, which uses the mintmark “S” under the date, produced 44,610,000 1955 Lincoln wheat reverse pennies.

#2 Know the graduation

Regarding graduation, the ideal, whenever possible, is to look for graduations in MS (“Mint State”) and, within these, the ones with the highest numbering (from MS66 or MS67 onwards) in which the TGP company has encapsulated.

The reason is straightforward, with more than 600 million pieces of 1955 Lincoln penny produced by the three mints, we need to look for the best specimens if we want to invest well or forge a collection with a specific value.

#3 What is patina, and why is it important?

In the tone or color of the Lincoln cent pieces, we are going to find three possible styles:

• Red (“RD- Red”),
• Red and Brown (“RB- Red and Brown”), and
• Brown (“BN- Brown”).

We have classified them in order. The RED Lincoln pennies are more valuable than the RB, which, in turn, are more valuable than the BN. The reason is simple: composed of 95% copper, the less circulated or better preserved Lincoln cents have a red tone from the factory, and the most used ones are brown.

#4 Find out the type of variant.

Regarding the variants, the Lincoln cent is one of the coins with the highest number of known variants throughout its history. For example, we have the double mint (“DD- Double Die”) that can be obverse (“DDO- Double Die Obverse”) or reverse (“DDR- Double Die Reverse”), double mintmark (“RPM- Repunched Mintmark”), etc.

These variants also have different grades and, therefore, different prices.

Specifically, for the 1955 Lincoln cent, we find only the DDO (Double Die Obverse) variant for units produced at the Philadelphia mint.

#5 Identify possible errors

In the case of errors, their economic valuation results from many Lincoln cent error collectors worldwide. And these errors themselves also have a different valuation depending on the type of error known.

In many cases, the price of Lincoln cent errors of a given year exceeds that of a Lincoln cent Mint State. It depends on the demand for the mistake and the known or auctioned examples.

What is the most valuable 1955-d lincoln wheat penny?

#1 1955-D Lincoln Wheat Cent MS67+ RD PCGS – $4,560

In June 2021, one MS67+ RD example of the five examples graded by PCGS in that grade that belonged to the GL & SL Stonebarger Collection was auctioned at Heritage for $4,560.

In May this year, a 1955-D Lincoln Cent MS67+ RD encapsulated by NGC also appeared at Heritage and sold for $1,920.

The record price for a 1955-D Lincoln Cent MS67 RD in recent years was achieved at a Heritage auction in May 2022 at $1,140.

And if you want to follow these pieces, 1955-D Lincoln Cent MS67, at auction in the company Great Collections to know their auctions, we leave you below the links: Reference #1, reference #2.

#2 1955-D/D RPM Lincoln Wheat Cent MS66 RD PCGS – $1,900

A double mintage of the mintmark characterizes the RPM (or “Repunched Mintmark”) variant, in this case, a double mintage of the capital “D” for Denver.

To give you an idea, we show you the image below with an enlargement of the mintmark area so you can appreciate it.

Well, this year, 2023, a 1955-D/D RPM Lincoln Cent graded by PCGS as MS66 RD sold for $1,900 on the eBay website. 

This price is in line with the scarcity of pieces of this type, and even more so if we consider that in MS66 RD quality, the company PCGS has only two coins censored.

#3 1955-D DDO Lincoln Wheat Cent MS66 RD PCGS – $1,140

When we speak of “DDO,” we refer to a double mintage of the obverse. To identify this 1955-D Lincoln Wheat penny variant, you must look closely at the entire coin, as the double mint marks are sometimes in different places.

For example, in the photo below, you can see the double mintage on the obverse in the continuous line of the president’s nose.

We have no record of a 1955-D DDO Lincoln Cent auction or sale in the two or three years. To find one, we must go to April 2019, when Heritage auctioned a PCGS MS66 RD example MS66 RD for $1,140.

The previous year, 2018, another similar PCGS specimen also got the same auction at Heritage.

Are there any valuable 1955-d lincoln cent errors?

Contrary to the Lincoln Wheat cents of other years, where the errors are numerous and sought after, and therefore valuable, for the 1955-D Lincoln cent, the errors could be more beneficial. 

Such minting errors are not well known for this year of 1955, while in other years of the Lincoln penny, the errors “off center”, “broad struck”, etc., are famous and studied.

The “BIE” error is the primary and most common 1955-D Lincoln cent minting error we have encountered and can be considered that way.

It consists of an error that looks like an excess of metal due to a broken mintmark in the minting of the word “LIBERTY” on the obverse -which appears to the left of the President’s bust- and more specifically between the B and the E, giving the impression of having an I right in the middle.

That is why it is known as a “BIE” error.

You can obtain it for less than $60. so its price is relatively low. That is, without grading for any TGP and depending on its state of conservation.

References

• Heritage auctions.
• PCGS Price Guide, Professional Coin Grading Service.
• eBay.

Related: Know the value of your D Wheat Penny by year

Rafa Sánchez

Numismatic collector with a passion for history, particularly Spanish history.
I have a degree in Business Administration and Management and numismatics studies at the University of Murcia (Spain).