Million Dollar Penny: Rare 1943 Lincoln Penny Purchased For $1 Million

How much is a penny worth? If its a rare 1943 Lincoln penny that was accidentally made from bronze instead of zinc-coated steel … well, then it’s worth about $1 million.

According to the Professional Coin Grading Service, only a few pennies were erroneously made of bronze instead of steel in 1943 at the San Francisco Mint. Only four are known to exist today.

UPI reports that the million dollar penny was purchased by Bob Simpson, the co-chairman of the Texas Rangers. The million dollar penny was purchased from Legend Numismatics in Lincroft, New Jersey.

Simpson, as you may have guessed, has quite an extensive coin collection. PCGS President Don Willis said that Simpson has some of the rarest coins ever created at the Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Denver mints.

“The Simpson collection now contains the finest known bronze cent from each mint, Philadelphia, San Francisco and Denver, including the unique 1943-D bronze cent that PCGS certified after Legend acquired and sold to him for a record $1.7 million in 2010.”

Legend President Laura Sperber added:

“Mr. Simpson said, ‘It’s a beautiful coin.’ As he held it he reminisced about the 1943 ‘copper’ Lincoln cent he found in change when he was a youngster, but that turned out to be a fake.”

Surprisingly, Simpson’s most recent purchase is not the most expensive penny that he owns. In 2010, Simpson purchased another rare 1943 Lincoln for $1.7 million.

Pennies aren’t the only coins to see their value skyrocket. A dime was recently purchased for $1.6 million at auction.