Want to know how much your 1990 penny is worth today?
Maybe you’ve got a 1990 penny with no letter (no mintmark) under the date and you’re curious if you have the rare, valuable 1990 No S penny!
In this article I’m going to help you figure out whether or not you have the rare 1990 penny worth thousands of dollars.
I’ll also shed some light on the value of all other 1990 pennies.
What Is A 1990 Penny Worth?
As you’re looking through your 1990 Lincoln Memorial pennies, you’re probably checking to see if any of them have no letter under the date — because of something you heard about them being worth a lot of money.
It’s true. A San Francisco proof 1990 penny with no “S” mintmark is worth thousands of dollars.
But how do you tell a 1990 no S penny from a Philadelphia 1990 penny — which also has no mintmark?
We’ll explore that in greater detail below.
First, let’s talk about how much 1990 pennies are worth:
1990 Penny Values
| Year | Mintmark | Minted | Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | Philadelphia (no mintmark) | 6,851,765,000 | 10 to 25+ cents |
| 1990 | Denver (“D” mintmark) | 4,922,894,533 | 10 to 25+ cents |
| 1990 | San Francisco (“S” mintmark) | 3,299,559 | $3+ |
| 1990 | No S | < 200 | $2,750+ |
IMPORTANT: What Is The Grade Of Your 1990 Penny?
In order to determine the true value of your 1990 penny, you first need to know what condition (or grade) your coin is in.
These are the best coin grading apps that make grading coins yourself SO much easier!
What Does A 1990 No S Penny Look Like?
Below are photos of two 1990 pennies:
- One is the rare 1990 No S penny.
- The other is a common 1990 penny from the Philadelphia Mint — which did not place mintmarks on its one-cent coins in 1990.
Here’s how to tell a 1990 No S penny apart from a regular Philadelphia 1990 penny…
#1 – The 1990 No S Penny
This is the obverse (head’s side) of a legit 1990 No S Lincoln penny:
It’s the real McCoy — the coin that so many people hope will turn up in their pocket change.
A few things stand out about the 1990 No S penny pictured here from Heritage Auctions:
- This coin has an extremely well-struck bust portrait of Abraham Lincoln.
- The flat surfaces (which are known as fields) are shiny and mirror like.
- The raised areas — such as Lincoln’s head, the date, and the lettering — are frosted.
- And, of course, this coin has No S mintmark.
You want to see what advanced collectors call a Deep Cameo (DCAM) finish. The fields should look like a dark black pool of glass when held at an angle — making the thick, frosted white details on Lincoln’s shoulders and face pop right out at you.
Unfortunately, it’s extremely unlikely this coin will ever turn up in circulation.
That’s because all 1990 No S pennies were made only for special collectors’ sets — proof sets. All 1990 No S pennies were minted for regular proof sets and prestige proof sets (the latter of which also contain the 1990 Dwight D. Eisenhower Centennial commemorative dollar). And coin collectors are very well aware of the 1990 No S Lincoln penny. They search all of their 1990 proof sets to see if they have the 1990 penny error.
Since 1990, only about 300 of these No S pennies have been accounted for, and there are very few 1990 proof sets left that have not been searched. That said, there are presumably a few unsearched 1990 proof sets that were ordered but never opened.
This means your best bet of finding a 1990 No S proof penny is by searching through every 1990 proof set you encounter. You might get lucky — and there is a real chance (albeit very slim) that you might find a 1990 No S penny that way.
Fresh discoveries are still happening! A collector unwrapped a 1990 U.S. Mint proof set he had tucked away since childhood and hit a pristine “No S” cent. Even wilder, a coin dealer recently discovered two separate 1990 No S pennies hiding inside the exact same original shipping box of 5 proof sets that came into the store! Professional grading reports at PCGS and NGC now show over 300 total population submissions—proving that unsearched estate sets are still giving up modern treasures.
Both the regular 1990 Philadelphia penny and the rare 1990 “No S” error share the exact same standard reverse design. If you find a penny that has dull reflectivity across the entire surface and soft, rounded edges, you are likely looking at a standard, common circulation strike worth only face value! Even if circulated, the proof penny will retain squared-off rims, evidence of a sharp strike, and could still show some of its reflective, mirror-like surfaces under signs of wear.
Now, let’s take a look at the type of 1990 no mintmark penny you are more likely to find in your spare change…
#2 – The 1990 No Mintmark Penny
This is a 1990 penny from the Philadelphia mint, which has no mintmark:
You might notice that this penny looks very much different than the 1990 No S penny photographed above.
Here are some of the things that set the 1990 Philadelphia penny apart from the 1990 No S penny:
- It doesn’t have the proof finish — the fields aren’t reflective and the devices aren’t frosted.
- It isn’t as well struck. Yes, yours might “look perfect” and seem to show all of the details on Lincoln’s bust, but it just won’t appear as sharp as the proof penny.
- Because the circulation die that struck the Philadelphia penny wasn’t prepared like a proof die, and because the planchet (the blank coin) wasn’t polished as a proof coin would be, the circulation strike — even a super shiny one — just doesn’t look as sharp as the proof version.
If you find a worn 1990 penny like this one in your pocket change, it’s worth only face value.
However, you might be glad to know that nice, uncirculated 1990 Philadelphia pennies have a value of about 10 cents and up.
Why Was The 1990 No S Penny Made?
A lot of folks wonder how the 1990 No S penny error came to be.
The amazing thing is that it ever came to existence at all. It was made about 5 years after the U.S. Mint stopped punching the mintmarks onto coins individually. That means the die that struck the 1990 No S penny is actually a 1990 Philadelphia (no mintmark) die.
Here’s where the story gets even crazier…
The 1990 Philadelphia die was accidentally sent to the San Francisco Mint, where most proof coins have been made since 1968. The San Francisco Mint officials began preparing the 1990 Philadelphia die as if it were a proof die — and apparently they didn’t notice the missing “S” mintmark on the die. So, the die was mounted to the press and away it went — striking 1990 No S mintmark pennies.
Presumably, Mint officials eventually realized that there was an issue — because while the average Lincoln cent proof die struck 3,000 to 4,000 pennies in the early 1990s, only about 200 of these rare coins have been found.
This mistake is particularly interesting because by 1990, the Mint had completely stopped hand-punching mintmarks onto individual dies — moving the mintmark straight onto the master hubs instead. What happened here was a bizarre mechanical crossover: a Mint worker grabbed a standard Philadelphia business-strike working die, ran it through the proof-polishing and sandblasting line by accident, and shipped it off to San Francisco in a batch of normal ‘S’ dies!
There’s a chance there are still a few floating around unnoticed in proof sets. But it’s perhaps more likely that several hundred 1990 No S proof pennies were discovered at the Mint and destroyed once the mistake was noticed. As we’ve found out, at least 300 or so managed to escape!
There are other no S proof coins out there, too, including:
- 1971 No S Jefferson nickel
- 1968 No S Roosevelt dime
- 1970 No S Roosevelt dime
- 1975 No S Roosevelt dime
- 1983 No S Roosevelt dime
READ NEXT: A List Of The Most Valuable U.S. Pennies
Do you still buy up sealed (or raw) 1990 proof sets at estate sales and coin shows on the off chance a No S is hiding inside? Or are you strictly searching pocket change for standard copper wheat cents?
Drop a comment below and let me know your strategy!
If you think you’ve spotted a Wide AM or a mirror-field No S penny, snap a sharp closeup photo and post it in the comments so we can all eyeball it together.
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