1909 S VDB Lincoln Cent

1909 was the first year that the United States Mint made the Lincoln Cent.  As the coin initially went into production, the designed of the lincoln cent, Victor David Brenner included his initials on the 1909 Lincoln cent.  This is why this key date lincoln cent is called the VDB lincoln cent.  You can see the VDB initials on the bottom of the reverse of the 1909 lincoln cent right below the ends of the wheat shafts.

However, not all were happy with Victor David Brenner including his initials on the 1909 lincoln cent and later in that year, his initials were removed from the Lincoln cent.  The 1909 S Lincoln Cent without the VDB initials were produced in nearly three times the quantity as the 1909  VDB Lincoln Cent.  Specifically, there were 1,825,000 1909 S Lincoln Cents without the VDB initials.  This is why the 1909 S VDB lincoln cent is so rare.

The 1909 S VDB Lincoln Cent prices are the highest of all the Lincoln cents.  Any person who wants to collect the Lincoln series needs to buy a 1909 S VDB cent to complete the series.  Because this is the hardest to obtain, or put another way, the most expensive lincoln cent, this is the key date lincoln cent.

In its lowest grade, G-4, the 1909 S VDB lincoln cent price is around $700.  For a Mint State 1909 S VDB Lincoln Cent the price is estimated at around $2300.  Except for variety lincoln cents, otherwise known as error lincoln cents, this is the most expense lincoln cent in the Lincoln cent series.