Found a 1957 Wheat penny and want to know what it’s worth?
1957 pennies are becoming scarce in circulation. So, when they’re found in pocket change or inside a penny roll, the first questions most people ask are:
“Is my 1957 Wheat penny rare?”
“How much are 1957 pennies worth today?”
Some 1957 Wheat pennies are worth hundreds — even thousands — of dollars. Others are worth just a few cents.
To determine the value of your 1957 Wheat penny, you first need to know a few things about the coin:
- The condition of your penny — including how much wear it has and whether it’s been cleaned or has other other signs of damage.
- Where your penny was minted — some were struck at the Philadelphia Mint and don’t have a mintmark and others were made at the Denver Mint and have a “D” mintmark.
- Whether it has any errors or varieties — including off-center strikes, a doubled die strike, repunched mintmark, and other oddities.
Read on to find out how much your 1957 Wheat pennies are worth…
How Much Are Circulated (Worn) 1957 Pennies Worth?
If you have a 1957 Lincoln cent that you found in pocket change or in a roll of pennies, it likely has a lot of circulation wear. In other words, your 1957 penny probably looks old and worn!
1957 pennies that have moderate wear but don’t exhibit any errors or other oddities are pretty common.
If you have a 1957 Wheat penny like that… What’s it worth?
There are 2 possibilities:
- A well-worn 1957 Wheat penny from the Philadelphia Mint (which has no mintmark under the date) or a 1957-D Wheat penny from Denver (with a “D” under the date) that has no errors and has not been cleaned is 5 to 8 cents apiece.
- A 1957 penny or 1957-D Wheat penny that has been cleaned or damaged (including holes, bends, or other surface problems) is worth its copper value — or about 2 to 3 cents.
COIN TIP: Let this be a reminder that you should never clean your coins! Why not?… Because cleaning coins permanently alters their appearance and virtually always diminishes their value.
How Much Are Uncirculated & Proof 1957 Pennies Worth?
1957 Wheat pennies that have never been spent as money are highly collectible, and many of these mint condition pennies are quite valuable.
So what is your uncirculated 1957 no-mintmark penny or 1957-D Wheat penny worth?
Again, there are 2 possibilities:
- If it’s a typical uncirculated specimen of a 1957 Wheat penny, it’s worth between 15 cents and $10 — the fewer scratches and the more lustrous the surface, the more it’s worth.
- If it’s a proof 1957 penny that was minted for collectors and sold in 1957 proof sets, it’s worth between $1.50 and $5. Proof pennies with cameo devices, or frosted designs and lettering, are worth much more — perhaps $100 or more!
IMPORTANT: What Is The Grade Of Your 1957 Penny?
To determine the true value of your 1957 Wheat penny, you first need to know what condition (or grade) your coin is in.
How to Grade Coins Yourself
Grab a coin magnifier and a copy of the U.S. Coin Grading Standards book. Then, watch this video to see how to grade coins yourself at home:
These are the best coin grading apps that will make grading coins yourself much easier.
Rare 1957 Error Pennies To Look For
1957 pennies with errors are valuable collectible coins. And yes, they can actually be found in your spare change today!
How do you know if you have a valuable 1957 error penny?
#1 – Do you see doubling of any part of the design?
It’s likely either a valuable doubled die or routine machine doubling.
Don’t let a blurry-looking date fool you! If you think you see doubling on the date or “LIBERTY,” tilt the coin under a bright desk lamp.
If the extra letters look flat and shelf-like (almost like a shadow), you’re looking at common machine doubling caused by a loose coin press shivering when it hit the metal. It’s neat, but it’s only worth face value.
A real high-value 1957 doubled die will show completely distinct, rounded extra metal lines with sharp “separation notches” visible on the corners of the letters under a basic magnifying glass.
The value of a 1957 doubled die penny generally ranges from $3 to $10+.
#2 – Does the mintmark look weird?
Maybe it’s a repunched mintmark.
If you’re looking at a 1957-D penny and the “D” looks weirdly fat or out of shape, grab a 10x magnifier. Back in ’57, Mint workers hand-hammered the mintmark into the steel dies. If they hit it twice, it left a visible mistake.
Look closely at the straight vertical bar on the left side of the “D” — if you see a crisp, secondary vertical line OR a piece of a second loop peeking out from the top or bottom of the primary letter, you’ve scored a real repunched mintmark!
1957 pennies with repunched mintmarks are worth $2.50+.
#3 – Do you see a raised straight or squiggly line anywhere on the coin?
It’s probably a die crack.
If you see a raised, squiggly thread of copper running across the coin — that’s a die crack.
But on a 1957 penny, there’s a legendary specialty crack you want to watch out for…
Check the word “LIBERTY” — if there’s a small vertical lump of extra metal trapped between the letters “B” and “E,” you’ve found a famous “BIE” die crack variety
! It looks exactly like a capital letter “I” was stamped in the middle of the word, making it read “L-I-B-I-E-R-T-Y.”
It’s a classic mid-century favorite for Wheat penny collectors!
1957 pennies with die cracks are worth $1 to $20+ — depending on the size and location of the crack.
#4 – Is part of the coin’s design missing?
It’s either an off-center strike or strike-through error.
If a section of a coin’s design is completely missing, it generally points to one of two distinct Mint errors. Look closely at the coin’s physical shape:
- If the planchet remains perfectly round but a smooth, blank, or indented crescent cuts across Lincoln’s head. Most likely, a foreign object like grease, cloth, or debris was trapped between the steel die and the metal. In this case, you’d have a strike-through error. A 1957 strike-through penny error is worth $5 to $50+.
- If the coin itself is oblong, lopsided, or stretched out… it’s probably because the copper-plated zinc blank failed to feed correctly into the striking chamber and was stamped outside its protective collar. In this case, you are holding an off-center strike. A 1957 off-center penny is worth $3 to $5+.
1957 Wheat Penny Facts
Here are 3 fun facts about 1957 pennies:
- More than 1.3 billion Lincoln cents were struck in 1957 — including 282,540,000 pieces struck at the Philadelphia Mint, 1,051,342,000 from the Denver Mint, and an additional 1,247,952 proof 1957 pennies.
- The Lincoln cent was originally designed by sculptor Victor David Brenner in 1909 — his initials, “VDB,” appear at the base of Lincoln’s shoulder on 1957 pennies.
- The most valuable 1957 penny ever sold was a nearly perfect MS-67+ Red specimen graded and certified by third-party coin authentication firm Professional Coin Grading Service (PCGS) — it crossed the auction block in 2020 for a whopping $20,400!
READ NEXT: A List Of The Most Valuable U.S. Pennies
Do you have a 1957 penny? Think there may be something unique about it? Post a picture of your coin in the comments below and I’ll try to help!
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