1956-D Mint Mark Wheat Back Pennies

 

Here are four 1956-D mint mark wheat pennies. All of these are in a average circulated condition, which is the condition you'll find ninety-nine percent of the wheat back pennies found from coin roll hunting or even buying them online.

I'd like to make a point about the worth of circulated wheat pennies. I don't think there's a way to get an exact measure of how much these American cents are worth. When it comes to grading mint condition coins the value is fairly set within the condition markers but with circulated coins there is a lot of speculation going on.

For instance, you can go to a flea market and easily find circulated condition pennies for $0.10 a piece, usually sold in lots of 50, 100 or 500. In my opinion this is way too high of a price to pay for coins that have gone through heavy circulation. On eBay the price fluctuates but is usually around $0.05 a penny. I think the wise thing to do for most collectors is to hold on to your wheat pennies, especially the older ones. If you look at the prices on Indian Heads many of which are not that much older than the oldest wheat pennies the price is going up substantially over the years.

Now that Memorial pennies have been discontinued and replaced buy Shield pennies, we should start seeing the value of wheat back pennies going up each year. Soon the older wheat pennies will be worth a dollar or more individually, especially when you consider that over time Mint Condition pennies are lost or hoarded by collectors making lower-grade pennies more desirable and sought after.