Check Your Coin Holders Montana, There Might Be $300,000 In There

When I was younger my grandparents went traveling a lot. When they returned, they would bring me gifts; but more than anything else, what I loved was collecting the coins they would give me from around the world. It lead to me collecting coins of our country as well. My interests changed as I got older, which is a shame because had I continued collecting I could have been the owner of a $300,000 wheat penny.

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My favorite coin to collect that was "easy" to find was wheat pennies. I had a big jar that I'd store them in. I never looked at the value of them, to a 7 year old they were just neat because they were different.

Well lately those wheat pennies have been selling for thousands of dollars.

What is a wheat penny?

From Merriam-Webster

a U.S. one cent coin that has an image of Abraham Lincoln on the obverse and two stalks of wheat on the reverse and that was issued from 1909 to 1958

Are all wheat pennies valuable?

Yes, but obviously some more than others. Almost every single wheat penny is worth far more than one cent. The majority are worth a $1 or $2. Then you'll find some that reach into the hundreds and even a few into the thousands. Here are a few to be on the lookout for in Montana.

1944 steel wheat penny

The website SDBullion.com says this penny could sell for $77,000 or more depending on it's condition. If it has the S marking which means it was minted in San Francisco it could be worth up to $400,000.

The 1943 Bronze Penny

Are you sitting down, because according to the website CoinCollecting.com this penny could be worth $300,000. If you got lucky and found one with a D stamp for the Denver Mint, it could be even worth up to $2 million.

So go dig in your cup holder, check under your cushions, and stop to pick up that penny you find on the ground, it just might be your ticket to easy street.