Calling all DU coin collectors and experts.

[BlueIris]

This question is paltry in the face of everything that has happened in the last twenty-four hours, but I found this old (OLD) U.S. penny in a parking lot last Spring. I've been holding on to it because it's really old and looks to be, in my amateur judgment, in really great shape. How do I figure out how much it may be worth, if it's worth anything?

[yorgatron]

1. i know a guy in Ohio who would give you as lot of money for that.

Tom Noe.

[EstimatedProphet]

2. OK...

How old? What year?
Good condition, you said-how good? how much wear is on it? Are there a lot of scratches or nicks?
If you can send me a very large pic of both sides I might be able to give you a ballpark estimate.

[Squeech]

3. There are books

The easiest to find, I think, is the one called the blue book. It's a price guide for US coins, telling you roughly what it would cost to buy those coins from a dealer. The prices are arranged by date, mint mark and condition within each type of coin-- penny, nickel, etc.

What's a mint mark, you ask? Look at one of those new state quarters. Under the date (to the lower right of George Washington) there's a letter, either a P or a D. That's a mint mark, telling you whether the coin was manufactured (minted) in Philadelphia or Denver, those two being the only mints still operating in the USA. There used to be one in San Francisco too, so some older coins can have an S on there too. The majority of pennies are minted in Philadelphia, so they didn't put any mark in for Philadelphia coins for most of the 20th century. Since I live on the east coast, I see very few D or S coins; your mileage may vary.

Anyway, get ahold of the blue book (try a library) and look up the price for a penny of that date and, if there is one, the mint mark.

I know that 1914D is a very valuable penny, and some of the pennies minted in 1909 are too, but that's all I remember. Hope this helps!

[happyslug]

4. Some sites to look into:

http://www.bestcoin.com/