1909-S VDB Lincoln Cent — The Most Famous Penny

The 1909-S VDB Lincoln cent is the most famous coin in American numismatics. Only 484,000 were struck at the San Francisco Mint before a controversy over the designer’s initials shut down production. Here is why this particular penny captured the imagination of collectors for over a century — and what to do if you think you have one.

What Is the 1909-S VDB?

The Lincoln cent debuted in 1909 to celebrate the centennial of Abraham Lincoln’s birth. The designer was Lithuanian-born sculptor Victor David Brenner, who had previously made a celebrated portrait medallion of Lincoln. Brenner placed his initials — V.D.B. — prominently at the bottom of the reverse between the wheat stalks.

The Philadelphia Mint struck 27.9 million cents with the VDB initials. The San Francisco Mint struck 484,000. That difference in mintage created the most famous rarity in American pocket change.

The VDB Controversy

Treasury Secretary Franklin MacVeagh and the popular press criticized the size of Brenner’s initials just weeks after the coin entered production in August 1909. The complaint: the initials were too large and prominent for a coin of the republic. No recent US coin had featured a designer’s initials so conspicuously.

The Mint halted production of VDB cents at both Philadelphia and San Francisco. Philadelphia had already struck 27.9 million — no scarcity there. San Francisco had struck only 484,000 — extreme scarcity. The VDB initials were later restored in smaller form on Lincoln cents in 1918 and have remained on the coin ever since. The short production window at San Francisco is entirely the result of controversy timing.

Why the S Mint Mark Matters

The two 1909 VDB cents look identical except for one detail: the mint mark. The 1909-P VDB from Philadelphia carries no mint mark and is a common coin worth $5 to $20 in circulated grades. The 1909-S VDB from San Francisco has a small S below the date on the obverse and is worth $600 to $1,000 in Good-4 condition, $1,500 to $3,000 in VF-20, and $7,000 to $12,000 in MS-63.

The practical collector challenge: distinguishing the two requires finding the S mint mark — or confirming its absence. Check below the date on the obverse. The S is small but clearly present on genuine San Francisco issues.

Critical warning: counterfeit 1909-S VDB coins exist, created by adding an S mint mark to a common 1909-P VDB. The added mint mark sometimes shows uneven edges or slightly different metal color under magnification. PCGS or NGC third-party certification eliminates this risk entirely. At the values involved, certification is not optional — it is necessary.

Victor David Brenner

Brenner was born Viktoras Barnauskas in Lithuania in 1871, emigrated to the United States in 1890, and became one of the most respected medallists in America. His Lincoln portrait medallion caught the attention of President Theodore Roosevelt, who commissioned Brenner to design the new Lincoln cent.

The Lincoln cent was the first US coin to feature a real person rather than an allegorical figure — previously, all US coins depicted Liberty in various artistic interpretations. Brenner also designed the reverse wheat design used from 1909 to 1958. His initials being removed and then restored in 1918 meant the controversy ultimately resolved in his favor. His V.D.B. initials have appeared on billions of Lincoln cents since 1918.

What to Do If You Think You Have a 1909-S VDB

Check the reverse for V.D.B. between the wheat stalks at the bottom. Check the obverse for a small S below the date. If both are present, do not clean the coin. Do not attempt to grade or value it yourself. Do not sell it to the first person who offers.

Send it to PCGS or NGC for authentication and certified grading before buying, selling, or insuring. Counterfeit 1909-S VDB coins are common enough in the market that a $700 to $1,000 coin absolutely requires third-party verification. The certification fee is $30 to $65 — a negligible cost relative to the coin’s value if genuine.

What a genuine 1909-S VDB looks like under magnification: the S mint mark is punched into the die and shows even depth and consistent edges. Added mint marks on counterfeit coins sometimes show uneven edges, slightly different metal color, or evidence of tooling around the mint mark area. If you are not experienced enough to spot these differences — and most collectors are not — let PCGS or NGC do it for you.