1988 Wide A M Should I Have This Graded?

All 1988s are Wide AM, it's the font on the reverse devices that matter here. A clear closeup of the FG would help.

What are you seeing that makes you believe this coin is worth the $30 (minimum) for certification?

It's the normal expected WAM reverse for the year and there were a stunning 6,092,000,000 1988 Philly cents minted. Yes - that is over 6 billion of these.

Normal, high mintage coin, worth 1 cent in this condition.

thump. whats your obsession with getting coins slabbed? just curious as it appears that a lot of collectors new to the hobby think they need to slab coins. is it because you see a lot of coins slabbed? over 50 years of collecting I have maybe 10-15 slabbed coins. most a rare and all are worth over well over $150. there is just no reason to spend that kind of money on grading a coin unless you have a rare coin or its worth over $150 and you want to sell it. you will hit the lottery before you find a coin in circulation to meet that criteria.

Wide AM was the prior way to describe the flared G variety. Or the 1988 with the 89 reverse variety. Definitely looks like the variety aforementioned and definitely adds numismatic value to the coin... in my opinion not enough value to pay for grading but Definitely worth more than a penny.

I agree @John1 definitely needs a clearer picture but in my opinion when I zoom in I can see the flared "g", also the lack of spread of the "FG" initials from the memorial building is a clear indicator. Just my opinion though.