Items20The creator’s order
  1. 1Lincoln centLincoln centWheat reverse, 1909 to 1958 Flip every cent: two stalks of wheat on the back instead of a building or a shield means it was struck between 1909 and 1958, and it has been passed hand to hand for at least 68 years. These are the classic first find, still turning up in rolls and jars, and the common…0
  2. 21943 steel cent1943 steel centA gray wheat cent dated 1943 is the wartime steel issue, made when copper was needed for the war, and a fridge magnet will grab it. It is the long shot on this list: the Mint gathered up and destroyed large numbers after they circulated into the 1960s, so most turn up in old jars and inherited tins…0
  3. 3Lincoln centLincoln centBronze cents dated 1982 and earlier Before 1982 the cent was a copper alloy; from that year it became zinc with a thin copper skin. A cheap kitchen scale settles which is which: the older cents weigh about 3.11 grams and the zinc ones about 2.5. Apart from the 1943 steel year, every date before…0
  4. 4Lincoln centLincoln cent2009 Lincoln Bicentennial cents For one year only, the cent carried four different backs marking 200 years since Lincoln's birth: his birthplace in Kentucky, the young Lincoln studying, Lincoln standing before the Illinois State Capitol, and the US Capitol under construction during his presidency.…0
  5. 5Lincoln centLincoln cent2017-P cent Philadelphia struck cents for decades without any mint mark, so a cent with no letter under the date usually comes from there. In 2017 the cent carried a P for the first time, and those coins began appearing in circulation that January. It is not rare, but it is a neat one-year oddity…0
  6. 6Lincoln centLincoln centUnion shield cents, 2010 to 2025 The shield on the back of every cent since 2010 is now a closed series: the striking of circulating cents stopped in November 2025, and the 2026 cent is made only for collectors' sets. That turns the most ordinary coin in the jar into an easy, finite date run of…0
  7. 7Jefferson nickelJefferson nickelWartime silver nickels, 1942 to 1945 The one nickel worth checking every time you see a 1940s date. To save nickel for the war, these were struck in an alloy that is 35% silver, and the Mint flagged them with a large mint mark above Monticello's dome on the back, including a P for Philadelphia,…0
  8. 8Jefferson nickelJefferson nickelWestward Journey nickels, 2004 and 2005 Four backs marking the Lewis and Clark expedition replaced Monticello for two years: a peace medal and a keelboat in 2004, then an American bison and a stretch of coastline with Clark's words "Ocean in view! O! The Joy!" in 2005. The 2005 coins also have a…0
  9. 9Roosevelt dimeRoosevelt dimeSilver Roosevelt dimes, 1946 to 1964 Any Roosevelt dime dated 1964 or earlier is 90% silver; from 1965 the Mint switched to the copper-nickel sandwich still used today. The quickest way to spot one in a stack is the edge: a clad dime shows a copper stripe, a silver one is bright all the way…0
  10. 10United States Semiquincentennial coinageUnited States Semiquincentennial coinage2026 Emerging Liberty dime The first new circulating dime design since 1946, and a one-year issue: a Liberty in a liberty cap on the front with the dual date 1776 ~ 2026, and an eagle in flight on the back. It began shipping to the Federal Reserve on January 5, 2026, and Roosevelt is due back in…0