Penny pinching sure does add up.
Certified coin and paper money auctioneer GreatCollections has sold 10 century-old cents for a combined $1.11 million.
READ ALSO: Ten Pennies Sell for $1.1 Million, Announces GreatCollections
Among the 10 coins, the auction house sold a first-year of issue Lincoln cent from 1909. This has Victor D. Brenner’s initials on the “tail’s side.”
The said coin fetched a record $365,625. Meanwhile, four other pennies dated between 1909 and 1915 collected more than $100,000 each.
Altogether, the coins in mint red condition sold for a total of $1,113,174. If each penny equals one cent, the ten coins collectively recorded an increase of 1,113,173,900 percent.
“The coins were from a New York collector who carefully assembled his collection over a 50-year period of searching for the finest known coins of their kind. He won many awards over the years for his Red Copper Collection,” GreatCollections president Ian Russell said.
During the early years of Lincoln cents, United States Mint in Philadelphia made these specially struck proof coins for collectors.
The Professional Coin Grading Service authenticated and graded the 1909 V.D.B. proof cent “mint state red 67+.” This uses the numismatic grading scale of 1 to 70.
“It is the king of Lincoln proof cents,” Russell explained. It ties for the finest known surviving example of less than 1,200 that the Mint specially struck in 1909.
Great Collections is the official auction house of the American Numismatic Association. It specializes in auctioning certified coins and banknotes.
Photos by GreatCollections via website.
