1966 Lincoln Memorial Cents Tough In Better MSRD Grades

PCGS - Lincoln Memorial Cents remain abundant in circulation channels and on the marketplace despite the last representatives of this long-running, popular subtype running off the production line back in 2008. Surely it can be said that the Lincoln Memorial cent doesn't offer much in the way of regular-issue rarities; of course there are notable exceptions, such as the 1969-S and 1972 doubled dies, the 1984 and 1988 doubled ear coins, 1990 No S Proof, the " Close AM" anomalies of 1992, and the various " Wide AM" pieces from the late 1990s and early 2000s.

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1966 Lincoln Cent, PCGS MS66RB.

However, almost every issue in the series becomes more challenging in higher Mint State grades, especially when crossing the MS67RD threshold. Some dates are even tougher, becoming scarce in MS66RD. That was the case with the 1966 Lincoln Cent, which came from a year when the lack of mint marks made it difficult to know which facility produced it.

In the mid-1960s, the U.S. Mint had refrained from adding mintmarks to its coins during a major coin shortage that many blamed on coin collectors (bullion hoarders, not necessarily numismatists, were primarily responsible for pulling 90% silver coins out of circulation at a time of rising bullion prices). The removal of mintmarks was theorized as one of the best ways to stem collecting activity, and this meant that none of the U.S. Mint coins struck in 1965, 1966, or 1967 contain a mintmark, even though all three fully operating mints of the era (those located in Philadelphia, Denver, and San Francisco) busily produced coins at the time.

Among these was the 1966 Lincoln Cent, which was aptly struck at the Philadelphia, Denver, and San Francisco Mints. However, you will never be able to tell a 1966 Lincoln Cent that was made at the Philadelphia Mint apart from one that came from Denver or San Francisco. And that was the whole idea of the mintmark moratorium - so collectors couldn't tell what coin came from which mint. In the case of the 1966 Lincoln Cents, U.S. Mint records indicate Philadelphia struck 811,100,000, Denver produced 991,431,200, and San Francisco emitted 383,355,000. Again, no die markers are known that will help collectors tell these coins apart.

What collectors do know is this: the 1966 Lincoln Cent isn't the easiest coin in the series to acquire, especially in better grades. Even many of those who seek circulated examples from circulation know that 1966 Lincoln Cents are tough to find, though values for worn pieces is generally only a couple to a few cents for the coin's copper value. In the Mint State grades, values hover between $3 and $5 for those in the MS63 to MS64, while an MS65RD fetches about $15 to $20. Prices lurch upward beyond $30 for an MS65RD and skyrocket to more than $900 for MS67RD examples, of which PCGS has graded fewer than 50 as of this writing.

As for the 1966 SMS Lincoln Cents, they were sold in Special Mint Sets that were offered by the U.S. Mint in place of the traditional proof sets and uncirculated sets of earlier years. The 1966 SMS Lincoln Cents were minted in much smaller numbers (2,261,583) than the 1966 business-strike cents (which saw over 2 billion made). The uncirculated strikes are much scarcer in better grades than those from the Special Mint Sets, which typically grade in the 66 or 67 numerical range, with graded examples known up to SP69.

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