10 pennies sold for a whopping $1.1 million, California auction house says
Lucky bidder 17 walked away with a 1909 Lincoln penny for $365,625. But that was just one high-priced coin sale the online auction based in Irvine, California, saw.
Ten 100-year-old pennies, including the 1909 Lincoln on Sunday, Aug. 28, sold for about $1.1 million during an online bidding war on GreatCollections website, according to a news release.
“The ten pennies were specially struck proof coins made for collectors by the United States Mint in Philadelphia in the early years of the Lincoln cents. All are still in pristine, mint red condition and recently sold for a combined total of $1,113,174,” the release says.
Four other of the 10 pennies from 1909 to 1915 went for more than $100,000 each, according to the release.
The 1909 Lincoln penny designer, Victor D. Brenner, immigrated to the United States from Lithuania in 1890, according to Coinweek. His passion for coins and tokens led him to join the American Numismatic Association in 1902.
Although Brenner was commissioned for many projects, including a rectangular 1903 Amerigo Vespucci medal, it wasn’t until 1907 that Brenner was asked to create a medal and plaque depicting Abraham Lincoln, according to the site.
The 1909 Lincoln Penny’s composition is 95% copper, 5% tin and zinc with a mintage of 1,194, according to GreatCollections website.
The medal and plaque were received so well by the public after Lincoln’s assassination in 1865, President Theodore Roosevelt talked with Brenner about putting Lincoln on a circulating coin, according to Coinweek.
The Lincoln cent was released on Aug. 2, 1909, according to Coinweek. Children who were able to grab large quantities of this one-cent coin sold them for upwards of 25 cents each on their release day.
GreatCollections has handled and sold rarities in U.S. currency including 1804 Silver Dollars, 1913 Nickel Ex. Eliasberg and the 1893-S Morgan Silver Dollar, according to its website.
Irvine is about 40 miles southeast of Los Angeles.
This story was originally published August 30, 2022 at 5:38 PM with the headline "10 pennies sold for a whopping $1.1 million, California auction house says."