The 1920 Wheat Penny Value Guide

In 1920, the Philadelphia Mint simultaneously produced U.S. cents and Cuban centavos, as it had contracted to mint coinage for several foreign nations. Although the Mint maintained separate production lines, a small number of U.S. Lincoln cent obverse and reverse dies were inadvertently paired with Cuban one-centavo planchets. Only approximately 15 examples of this extraordinary error are known to exist today.

The visual difference is immediately striking: the Cuban centavo planchet was composed of copper-nickel (not the 95% copper of a standard cent), and it was measurably smaller in diameter. As a result, the coin displays an unusual peach or light grayish-silver color rather than the warm brown or red of a normal penny. Because the planchet is smaller, the peripheral legends — including portions of IN GOD WE TRUST and E PLURIBUS UNUM — are partially cut off or missing entirely at the rim.

Collectors prize this error for its extreme rarity, its dramatic visual appearance, and the compelling historical story it tells about early 20th-century Mint operations. Values for authenticated examples depend heavily on condition, centering, and the completeness of the date and central design. Because of the rarity and the ease of fabricating fake versions by altering or re-plating coins, professional authentication by PCGS or NGC is absolutely mandatory before any transaction.

Before 1990, mint marks on Lincoln cents were punched directly into each working die by hand using a letter punch, a process inherently prone to misalignment. On one working die used at the San Francisco Mint in 1920, the punch was applied twice: first in the correct position, then a second time very slightly to the north (upward). The result is a clearly doubled S, with the secondary impression visible directly above the primary mint mark.

The variety is catalogued as 1920-S WRPM-001 in Wexler's Die Varieties database and as RPM #1 by CONECA — making it one of the most authoritatively documented minor varieties in the Lincoln series. Under 5–10× magnification, the secondary S above the primary is visible as a distinct shadow or shelf. On well-struck, lightly circulated examples the doubling can sometimes be seen with the naked eye in strong raking light, making this a particularly rewarding "cherrypicker" find.

Because the 1920-S is already a semi-key date that commands a premium over the Philadelphia issue, the RPM designation adds a further layer of collector appeal. The most significant value gains occur on About Uncirculated (AU) and Mint State examples, where the sharp doubling combined with the coin's inherent scarcity can push prices well above a standard 1920-S of equal grade. Specialist dealers and cherry-pickers actively search raw coins for this variety at coin shows.

An off-center strike occurs when a planchet is fed into the striking chamber but fails to seat properly within the collar that normally constrains the metal and forms the rim. Without full collar contact, the dies impress the design onto a displaced portion of the planchet, leaving a crescent-shaped area of blank, unstruck metal on the opposite side. The degree of misalignment — expressed as a percentage of the coin's diameter — is the primary driver of value for this error type.

On 1920 wheat pennies, off-center errors ranging from 5% to 50% have been documented. Minor off-center strikes of under 10% are relatively common and command only modest premiums. The most collectible examples show a 15–50% offset while still retaining a clearly readable date and mint mark — this combination of dramatic appearance with confirmed identity is what collectors prize most. An example graded MS64 Red-Brown with a 35% off-center shift sold for $240 at Heritage Auctions in September 2019.

The striking geometry means that heavier off-center examples will be slightly thinner and larger in diameter on the struck side, where the metal spread outward without rim constraint. Most known examples involve obverse misalignment, though reverse off-center strikes exist. Value scales sharply with the percentage of off-center misalignment combined with the coin's overall grade — a 40%+ example in AU condition could exceed the value of a normal uncirculated 1920-D.

Lamination errors are a planchet-type error unique to coins struck on alloy compositions — and the 1920 wheat penny's 95% copper / 5% tin-zinc alloy makes it susceptible. The error originates when gas pockets, slag inclusions, or contaminant particles become trapped between layers of the alloy as it is rolled into strip for planchet production. When the strip is struck, the surface layer over the trapped contaminant is weakened and may crack, blister, or flake away entirely before or after the coin enters circulation.

On 1920 wheat pennies, lamination errors appear in several forms: a hairline crack across the surface (pre-strike lamination that did not fully separate), a raised blister where the surface has partially lifted, or a full flap of detached metal exposing the base alloy beneath. The last type — a missing flap that leaves a rough, cratered depression — is called a "lamination peel." These must be distinguished from post-mint damage such as cuts or acid etching, which also remove surface metal but show sharper, cleaner edges rather than the irregular, fibrous edges of a genuine lamination.

Values for lamination errors depend on the size and drama of the defect relative to the coin's overall design visibility. A minor hairline lamination on an otherwise worn coin adds little premium, but a large flap covering a significant portion of Lincoln's portrait on a circulated but attractive coin can bring several multiples of the standard coin's value from error specialists. Dramatic "through-and-through" laminations that penetrate to the opposite side are the most highly prized.

The 1920-D Repunched Mint Mark — catalogued as WRPM-001 in Wexler's Die Varieties files with the description "D/D Tilted (Rotated)" — is the Denver Mint's analog to the San Francisco S/S North variety. On this die, the D mint mark punch was applied at a slightly rotated angle on the first impression, then corrected on the second strike. The result is a primary D in normal orientation overlaid with a secondary D impression that is visibly tilted relative to it.

Detection requires at least 10× magnification. The secondary impression appears as a faint rotational ghost around the edges of the primary D — particularly noticeable on the interior curve and the upper and lower serifs of the letter. Because only a circulated specimen was available for initial die study (per Wexler's documentation), the exact die markers on the obverse and reverse remain insufficiently documented, meaning additional research-quality examples could refine the attribution further.

The 1920-D RPM carries a more modest premium than its San Francisco counterpart because the underlying 1920-D coin is itself less scarce than the 1920-S, and because the tilted doubling is subtler and harder to photograph convincingly for online sales. Nevertheless, it represents a genuine opportunity for the patient cherry-picker working through bags of raw Lincoln cents. Circulated examples in Fine-to-VF condition with clearly visible doubling change hands in the $5–$15 range; About Uncirculated or better examples could command significantly more from specialists.