1909-S VDB penny

How to read it

Victor David Brenner designed the Lincoln cent, and the first 1909 cents carried his initials, VDB, at the bottom centre of the reverse. PCGS CoinFacts says newspaper reporters objected to the initials’ place as free advertising for the designer, and the Mint removed them instead of moving them; NGC says they came back several years later on the bottom of Lincoln’s shoulder. San Francisco struck only 484,000 cents with the initials, the mintage PCGS gives, and NGC calls the 1909-S VDB the key to collecting the Lincoln cent series. The S is under the date on the front; 1909 cents with no mint mark are from Philadelphia.

Also searched as: 1909 S VDB, 1909 VDB penny.

1909-S VDB, 1909 VDB or 1909-S?

Three other 1909 wheat cents are easy to confuse with it. The 1909 VDB has the initials and no mint mark: it is from Philadelphia, and NGC says the Philadelphia issues were far more common. The 1909-S has the S but no initials; NGC counts it as a key date too, because of San Francisco’s low mintages that year. The plain 1909 has neither. Only a cent with both the S and VDB on the reverse is a 1909-S VDB.

Counterfeits

The ANA’s Reading Room reports a counterfeit struck with a reverse die carrying VDB, notes that the initials appear there only on 1909-dated cents, and says the same die has probably been used to strike fake 1909-S VDB cents.

What the NGC Price Guide listed

In June 2023 the NGC Price Guide listed the 1909-S VDB at $1,575 in AU 50 brown, $2,150 in MS 60 red-brown and $8,250 in MS 65 red. In the same grades it listed the 1909-S without initials at $215, $310 and $1,200, and the Philadelphia 1909 VDB at $16, $35 and $250. The NGC guide gives average dealer retail prices for NGC-certified coins, and its figures change; these are the prices NGC published on that date.