New 2019-W Pennies Are A Hit With Lincoln Cent Collectors
The United States Mint has made history by striking the first Lincoln cents bearing the "W" mintmark from the West Point Mint in New York, and collectors are loving these new pennies. There are three types of 2019-W pennies being struck, and each is being offered as a premium freebie in three types of United States Mint collector products for 2019 only.
So, what are the three 2019-W Lincoln cents? They include the following:
- Proof 2019-W Lincoln cent, sold with the standard 2019 proof set
- Reverse
proof 2019-W Lincoln cent, included with the 2019 silver proof set
- Uncirculated
2019-W Lincoln cent, bundled with the 2019 uncirculated coin set
These special 2019-W Lincoln cents are making waves with collectors, particularly the many Lincoln cent enthusiasts who are building complete collections of the popular one-cent coin. As one might suspect, the special offer has helped spur more sales of the major annual coin sets, which have seen some significant dips in sales over recent years. Whether or not any of the 2019-W Lincoln cents will help break recent sales records for any or all of the three sets remains yet to be seen as we're only partway through the year. But early results are promising.
What's The 2019-W Lincoln Cent Worth?
As the 2019-W Lincoln pennies are still being struck and offered for sale there are no final tallies on how many will be made. Therefore, it's hard to say whether or not these will eventually be considered numismatically rare coins. At this point, some varieties are already seeing mintages running into the mid hundreds of thousands, suggesting these will not be rare coins in the absolute sense. Though they will certainly boast much lower mintages than their Philadelphia and Denver business-strike counterparts that are being made for circulation.
What is clear about the value of these new pennies is that they are bringing some big bucks in the marketplace. Many coin dealers are selling each of the three 2019-W Lincoln cents for between $15 and $25 apiece – significantly more than their face value!
The good news for people who want to buy examples of the 2019-W pennies is that as of the publication of this blog post, they are still available from the United States Mint. As of July 2019, prices for the various annual collectors sets with which the 2019-W pennies are sold. Prices range from $27.95 for the standard 2019 proof set with the 2019-W proof Lincoln cent to $54.95 for the 2019 silver proof set containing the 2019-W reverse proof cent. Meanwhile, the 2019 uncirculated set has an issue price of $21.95 and comes with the 2019-W uncirculated cent.
Can You Find 2019-W Lincoln Cents In Pocket Change?
Anything's possible, but you likely won't find any 2019-W Lincoln cents in regular circulation. These coins are being sold only alongside collector sets and aren't being distributed through the normal circulation channels. So, your chances of finding a 2019-W Lincoln cent in pocket change rest on finding an example that is cut open from its government-issued packaging and is slipped spent by somebody. Then again, stranger things have happened. In fact, it happens almost every day that special collectible coins are removed from coin collections and spent as normal money.
So, you should always keep your eyes peeled and be sure to look through all the coins that come through your hands by way of circulation. You may not find any 2019-W Lincoln cents this way, but you might just find some other rare and valuable coins by checking your change!
