Lincoln Memorial Cents

Although I focus on LWC, I will comment that most of the price appreciation for Lincolns occurred in 2007-08 as people prepared for the 2009 new reverses and the economy was strong.

One Lincoln Memorial I really like is the 1960P Small Date. It's of course real bronze and a good market for it will always be there. There are many varities and errors that are in demand also. I'd suggest a current price guide as reference material.

On a side note, the Jan. '09 issue of Coinage Magazine reported that the mint will be producing a bronze "wheat ear" commemorative in '09. I have not seen this reported anywhere else and it may be wishful thinking!

I heard someone say that the 82-89 I think zinc pennys in high grade will be worth a premium one day possibly

It's not a good idea to buy coins just for profit. The market has an uncanny ability to do whatever it takes to make everyone wrong. I think there will be a nice move in the certified coins but the biggest percentage gains may be in the nice gem and choice gem coins purchased raw. It's simply beyond my comprehension why coins that appear in mint sets only rarely and aren't really available in rolls should not get a good premium in this day and age. Only about 1 1/2% of something like a '79-D in the mint set is gemmy but they are out there. They are out there because people haven't been looking. They treasure an old worn wheatie in change and wouldn't even notice if they received a nice gem '79-D!!

This can't go on and this might be the trigger that makes millions of collectors realize that they haven't even got a memorial collection. The chances are pretty good that the Memorial penny is now entirely a thing of the past and a lot of people will suddenly discover they have half a century of catching up to do.

It's ironic that the memorial has actually been produced for a longer time than the Wheat cent. In 1958 everyone kept their cent collection up to date but how many people now have any of these coins dated after 1964.

I guess it comes down to the reasons you are asking and I think it is either for a future profit or that you do not have all the set and want to know which ones to get first. The certified question leads me towards the second idea and a way for you to get a nicer set for the best price.

Over the last few months I have been wondering this a little bit and have been watching ebay to see if I could find some of these items and I think it is what others have said and trying to get a set in very high grades. There are a lot of people offering PCGS slabbed coins where you can get the P & D in one bid and I have seen them in MS69 go from $10-100 depending on when they are being sold. To me it seems that this may be something to look into because you do not have to pay the fees and hopefully can get them for a great price because anything in that condition is never going to go down in price.

Yes - This is what I understood also. Here's the direct quote from Coinage Magazine:

...intended for collectors: the bronze cent in its original composition using the 1909 design.

A little vague but certainly implies "Wheatie" to me!

Here is a simple answer. Purchase a Red Book. Attempt to find and collect all the ones that are listed there as expensive.
Although some are listed as expensive they may not be a great seller so check with several editions of that book to see which ones have gone up the most. For example buy an entire roll of 1995 Double Dies in MS condition. Same with the 72 Double Die. Buy an entire roll. Then of course you would want the 74 aluminum one, the 59 Wheat Back, and throw in few Wide AM's.