You Might Have This Valuable Penny From The 1980s Just Lying Around

People often associate valuable coins with older, more historic ones, but you may have valuable coins lying around that are newer than you might expect. A good example: the 1983 penny. During that year, about 7.75 billion pennies were minted across the Philadelphia, Denver, and San Francisco Mints. However, pennies produced in Philadelphia that year — which had a corresponding letter P on the front in previous years — lack this identifying letter. While one of these coins is not inherently valuable on its own, certain error variations are.

Pennies missing the letter P that also have duplicated lettering on the back — known as a doubled die reverse penny — are in particularly high demand. For example, Heritage Auctions sold one in 2017 for $7,050. Plus, 1983 pennies that were unintentionally minted on a planchet crafted of solid copper-alloy bronze can also be worth a lot. Even though the mint had switched from 3.1-gram copper planchets to 2.5-gram copper plated zinc planchet in mid-1982, some of the old material mixed in, leading to a planchet error that can be worth a lot. Identified by their weight, one was auctioned off for $29,250 in 2024, per Numismatic News.

To spot valuable error coins in your spare change, you should regularly look through any change you're given. From there, you can investigate any potentially valuable coins online or by consulting with a professional coin dealer or numismatist. The Professional Numismatics Guild (PNG) provides information about its member dealers, giving collectors confidence in the qualifications of the expert they choose.

You may find fewer pennies in your change, overall, however. That's just one of the results of a penny shortage triggered by the stoppage of penny production in November 2025. Although pennies have been part of U.S. currency since 1793, production costs nearly tripled between 2015 and 2025, rising from 1.3 cents to 3.69 cents per coin and making continued production increasingly cost-ineffective.

Although it makes sense to keep checking your own change for this in-demand cent, you may also need to check coin shops or online coin auctions to find this specific coin. A 1983 doubled die penny — with moderate wear — is currently up for sale on eBay as of July 2026 for $550. Meanwhile, another is listed for $1,000. Even if your spare change doesn't contain one of these rare errors, taking a closer look at your coins is a habit that could pay off someday.