The 1926-S Lincoln Cent Is Rarer Than The 1909-S VDB? Let's Explain.

PCGS - The 1909-S VDB Lincoln Cent has long been considered the "holy grail" when it comes to collecting this ages-old series. Nothing is knocking the 1909-S VDB Lincoln Cent off that pedestal. It has a mintage of 484,000 pieces and survivorship numbers that fall lower than even that. Yet, while the 1909-S VDB Lincoln Cent is absolutely the key date and lowest-mintage regular issue for the series - there's no denying that - many Lincoln Cents rival the rarity of the 1909-S VDB when it comes to grade-to-grade comparisons. Of course, we're talking about conditional rarities here, or coins that may not be rare as far as mintage numbers go but are when discussing number of survivors at or above certain grade thresholds. And there are few regular-issue Lincoln Cents that come anywhere close to the elusiveness of the 1926-S at the Gem level of MS65RD.


Lincoln Cent (Wheat Reverse), 1926-S 1C, RD, PCGS MS65RD

Most series enthusiasts regard the 1926-S Lincoln Cent as a semi-key date, and some even go so far as to say it's a key coin. Regardless of its categorizing nomenclature, the 1926-S Lincoln Cent is indeed a low-mintage entry with only 4,550,000 specimens made. However, in the absolute sense, this issue is not rare at all. The number of survivors exceed an estimated sum of 450,000, or nearly 10 times the approximate group of extant 1909-S VDB Lincoln Cents, the latter of which are believed to total around 50,000 pieces in all grades. Of course, that's not the whole story.

Let's draw back the curtains a little bit and take a deeper look at the scarcity of the 1909-S VDB and 1926-S Lincoln Cents. Yes, both are certainly scarce coins, and the 1909-S VDB Lincoln Cent has rightly earned its title as series key and storied rarity; this, despite the claims by some numismatic iconoclasts who may suggest that because there are more than, say, 10, 20, 30, 50, or 100 examples of the 1909-S VDB Lincoln Cent floating around that it's not really a "rare" coin. Nay, a supply of perhaps 50,000 specimens against the demand of perhaps millions of formal and informal "penny" collectors coveting their own 1909-S VDB Lincoln Cent, even in lowly cull condition, confirms the coin's "rare" status - even if only in the relative sense.

However, the 1909-S VDB Lincoln Cent was saved in huge quantities from the get-go. Many people in 1909, including plenty of non-collectors, knew off the bat this would become a rare coin once it was announced the United States Mint was dropping the original reverse with designer Victor David Brenner's "VDB" initials boldly emblazoned along the bottom center of the coin near its rim. Even as many examples of the 1909-S VDB entered circulation to see the dozens, hundreds, or even more hands over the next 20, 30, or 40 years, thousands upon thousands of others were speculatively being squirreled away by the roll.

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