Top 10 Most Valuable Error Coins Found in Circulation

The headline number for the most valuable "penny found in pocket change" is $1.7 million, and it is real: that is what Texas collector Bob Simpson paid in 2010 for the only known 1943-D bronze cent. What almost no article tells you is that the same coin went back to auction in June 2021 and brought $840,000, barely half as much, or that the 1943 cent a Massachusetts teenager actually found in school cafeteria change in 1947 sold for $204,000, not millions.

That gap is the whole story of error-coin collecting. Every famous mistake coin carries two prices: the record paid for the single finest example at a major auction, and what a worn specimen from a coin jar actually fetches. Listicles quote the first and let readers imagine the second. The 1955 doubled die cent "worth $287,000" is, as most people find it, a $1,000 to $2,000 coin; the 1937-D three-legged buffalo "worth $99,875" is, in Good, a $200 to $500 coin. Both figures are true. Only one matters to the nickel in your drawer.

This list ranks the ten most valuable US error and variety coins genuinely released into circulation by the highest verified auction price for any example, with the realistic value of a typical circulated find beside each record.

Methodology

Every entry is ranked by the highest verified auction price for a single example, as recorded by Heritage Auctions, Stack's Bowers Galleries, GreatCollections, Legend Rare Coin Auctions and the auction archives of PCGS and NGC, with reporting from CoinWeek, Coin World, Numismatic News, CoinNews and Greysheet. Private sales are noted but do not set the rank, which is why the 1943-D cent counts at its $840,000 auction result, not its $1.7 million private price.

Two tests govern inclusion. First, the coin must be a genuine mint error (a one-off accident such as a wrong-metal planchet or mismatched dies) or die variety (a flaw in the die itself, shared by every coin struck from it: doubled dies, overdates, over-polished dies). Second, it must have been released into circulation through normal channels and could, in principle, still turn up in change or a bank roll.

That test excludes three coins that top most "valuable error" lists:

• The 1913 Liberty Head nickel (five known; $4.2 million at GreatCollections in 2022) was never issued; the accepted theory is that a Mint employee struck them clandestinely.
• The 1974 aluminum cent: 1,571,167 were struck as a pattern and none released. When a 1974-D surfaced in 2014 the government reclaimed it; the owners surrendered it on 17 March 2016.
• The 1958 doubled die cent sold for $1,136,250 at GreatCollections on 22 January 2023, the first Lincoln cent past $1 million. Nobody has ever found one in circulation: only three exist, all uncirculated, and their origin is disputed (Stack's Bowers traces them to a $50 bag searched around 1960; PCGS and CoinWeek say the variety was unknown until the early 1980s).

Every entry also gives a typical circulated value from dealer price lists and recent mid-grade results. Treat that as the realistic number, and before chasing any of these, read the fundamentals in our guide to coins to collect for beginners.

List of Most Valuable Error Coins Found in Circulation

10. 1937-D Three-Legged Buffalo Nickel

A Denver Mint pressman polishing clash marks off a reverse die ground away most of the bison's front right leg. Thousands were struck before inspectors condemned the die, and they went straight into circulation; Montana dealer C.L. "Cowboy" Franzen spotted them in change in late 1937 and advertised them in The Numismatic Scrapbook.

It is the most famous late-die-state variety in American coinage and, unusually for this list, not rare: roughly 10,000 survive, about 1,400 of them Mint State. The record is $99,875 for a PCGS MS66+ at Legend Rare Coin Auctions on 28 October 2021. CoinWeek puts circulated examples at $200 to $500 in Good and $900 to $1,500 in Extremely Fine. Fakes made by grinding a leg off an ordinary 1937-D are common, so buy certified.

Record: $99,875, 28 October 2021, Legend Rare Coin Auctions (PCGS MS66+). Typical circulated find: $200–$1,500.

9. 1942/1 Mercury Dime

In late 1941, with the Philadelphia Mint running flat out for the war, at least two dime dies were impressed first with a 1941-dated hub and then with a 1942 hub, leaving a ghost 1 beneath the 2 visible to the naked eye. Collector Arnold Cohn found one in circulation and The Numismatic Scrapbook announced the variety in March 1943; a Denver version, the 1942/1-D, was not recognised until 1960.

PCGS estimates about 3,500 Philadelphia and 3,000 Denver survivors, but only around 200 and 20 respectively in Mint State. The record, per CoinWeek, is $120,000 for a Philadelphia MS66 Full Bands at Heritage's January 2018 FUN auction; another MS66 FB brought $102,000 at Heritage in May 2024, and the best 1942/1-D made $73,438 at Legend in May 2019. Wartime collectors pulled enough from circulation that worn examples are obtainable: roughly $280 in Good, $540 in Extremely Fine and about $2,700 in low Mint State.

Record: $120,000, January 2018, Heritage Auctions (PCGS MS66 FB). Typical circulated find: $280–$600.

8. 1918/7-S Standing Liberty Quarter

A 1917-dated quarter die the San Francisco Mint had not used by year's end was re-hubbed with a 1918 date, a 19th-century cost-saving habit that had almost died out. Several thousand quarters were struck from it, and the overdate went unnoticed for nearly two decades, which is why Mint State examples are so rare: by the time anyone looked, the coins had been circulating for twenty years.

The highest price we could verify, reported by Coin World, is $165,937.50 for a PCGS MS65 with a green CAC sticker from the Dr. Steven Duckor collection at GreatCollections on 9 January 2022. An NGC MS67, one of only two at that grade, was offered by Heritage in August 2016 as the finest ever auctioned, but we could not confirm its price, so it does not set the rank. Worn, the coin is expensive but reachable: roughly $1,400 in Good and $2,100 in Fine.

Record: $165,937.50, 9 January 2022, GreatCollections (PCGS MS65 CAC). Typical circulated find: $1,400–$2,500.

7. 2000-P Sacagawea Dollar / Washington Quarter Mule

The only 21st-century coin here is also the only one the US Mint publicly confirmed as a mistake. In spring 2000 a Philadelphia press was fitted with a Washington quarter obverse die and a Sacagawea dollar reverse die, producing a golden "coin" with a face value of $1.25. Thousands were struck and most destroyed, but some escaped: Arkansas collector Frank Wallis found the first in a roll of uncirculated dollars from his bank in May 2000. The Mint confirmed it genuine on 19 June 2000 and, unlike with the aluminum cent, let the coins trade freely.

About two dozen have been found "in the wild"; collector Tommy Bolack bought 15 of them. The record is $194,062.50 for a PCGS MS66 at GreatCollections on 21 January 2024, beating the $192,000 paid for an NGC MS67 at Stack's Bowers in March 2018. Because every known mule came from rolls, there is no "circulated" price: a lower-grade example still brought $120,000 at Stack's Bowers.

Record: $194,062.50, 21 January 2024, GreatCollections (PCGS MS66). Typical find: $120,000 and up; none known worn.

6. 1916 Doubled Die Obverse Buffalo Nickel

A nickel die received two misaligned hub impressions in 1916, doubling the date so dramatically that it looks like a second row of digits. Nobody noticed for 46 years: Herbert S. Perlin of Pomona, California reported it in Numismatic Scrapbook in July 1962, by which time nearly every example had been worn down in commerce. Specialists estimate 300 to 400 survive, just 10 to 15 of them Mint State.

The record, per CoinWeek, is $281,750 for a PCGS MS64 at Bowers and Merena in August 2004; a PCGS MS63 CAC brought $138,000 at Heritage in August 2022. Because the coins circulated so long, even a well-worn example in Good is worth around $5,000, and an NGC AU55 made $24,000 at Heritage in May 2024.

Record: $281,750, August 2004, Bowers and Merena (PCGS MS64). Typical circulated find: $5,000–$25,000.

5. 1955 Doubled Die Obverse Lincoln Cent

The coin that made doubled dies famous. During one 1955 night shift, a Philadelphia obverse die was misaligned on its second hubbing, doubling the date, LIBERTY and IN GOD WE TRUST so clearly it is visible at arm's length. Roughly 40,000 were struck; Mint staff caught the problem but judged recall impractical, and an estimated 20,000 to 24,000 entered circulation, many through New England cigarette machines.

Here the two-price problem is sharpest. The record is $287,156 for the finest known, a full-red PCGS MS65+ from the Stewart Blay collection, at GreatCollections in January 2023, more than double the $124,875 paid for the same grade in March 2020. But an estimated 10,000 to 15,000 survive: lower-end uncirculated coins run $2,000 to $3,000, and a worn example trades around $860 in Extremely Fine. The "poor man's doubled die" from die wear is worth a few dollars.

Record: $287,156, January 2023, GreatCollections (PCGS MS65+ RD CAC). Typical circulated find: $800–$2,000.

4. 1944-S Steel Cent

The mirror image of the 1943 copper penny. When the Mint returned to bronze in 1944, a few zinc-coated steel blanks left over from 1943 slipped into the presses. Philadelphia produced perhaps 25 to 35, Denver about nine, San Francisco just two, and only one of the two 1944-S coins survives in Mint State.

That coin, a PCGS MS66 from Bob Simpson's complete set of 1943 and 1944 off-metal cents, sold for $373,750 at Heritage's 2008 ANA auction, then $408,000 when the Simpson collection was auctioned in 2021, according to CoinWeek. PCGS CoinFacts records its latest sale at $490,500 at GreatCollections on 5 January 2025. A "typical" 1944 steel cent is a Philadelphia coin: an MS64 brought $158,625 at Stack's Bowers in August 2013, and a lower-grade example sold for $24,000 in May 2023.

Record: $490,500, 5 January 2025, GreatCollections (PCGS MS66). Typical find (Philadelphia): $24,000–$160,000.

3. 1918/7-D Buffalo Nickel

Under First World War production pressure, a Denver nickel die was hubbed once with a 1917 master and again with a 1918 master, leaving a bold 7 through the 8. The variety went unrecognised until 1930, when a New York dealer offered one noting that neither collectors nor the Mint seemed to know it existed. Thirteen years of circulation had done their damage: worn examples appear regularly while Mint State coins are severely scarce.

The record, per CoinWeek, is $511,875 for a PCGS MS65 with a green CAC sticker at GreatCollections on 11 February 2024. A circulated 1918/7-D is a very different proposition: dealer price lists put it at roughly $600 in Good and $900 in Fine, with higher grades simply listed as "rare." Altered 1918-D nickels are common; genuine coins show a die crack from the hair braid toward the jaw.

Record: $511,875, 11 February 2024, GreatCollections (PCGS MS65 CAC). Typical circulated find: $600–$1,000.

2. 1969-S Doubled Die Obverse Lincoln Cent

The only coin here the government tried to destroy. In 1969 counterfeiters Roy Gray and Morton Goodman flooded the market with fake 1969 doubled dies, so when Cecil Moorhouse and Bill Hudson independently found genuine San Francisco doubled dies in June and July 1970, per CoinWeek, the timing could not have been worse. The Secret Service seized the real coins as fakes and ordered some destroyed before the Mint confirmed them. PCGS believes fewer than 100 were struck; Stack's Bowers counts 40 to 50 known.

It is also the list's best roll-hunting story. On 3 October 2007 Michigan collector Michael Tremonti pulled an MS64 Red from a roll of cents; Heritage sold it for $126,500 at the January 2008 FUN show. That stood until the finest known, a PCGS MS66 RD with CAC from the Stewart Blay collection, brought $601,875 at GreatCollections in January 2023. A more ordinary PCGS MS64 RD sold for $70,312.50 at GreatCollections in September 2025; there is no cheap 1969-S, and even the lowest-graded authentic examples are five-figure coins. The S mintmark was hand-punched after hubbing, so a doubled S means a fake.

Record: $601,875, January 2023, GreatCollections (PCGS MS66 RD CAC). Typical find: $70,000–$126,000 for a mid-grade red coin.

1. 1943 Bronze Lincoln Cent

In 1943 the Mint struck cents on zinc-coated steel to save copper for the war. A handful of bronze planchets left over from 1942 stayed lodged in the presses and were struck with 1943 dies. CoinWeek counts 12 or 13 Philadelphia coins, seven San Francisco coins and a single Denver coin, whose history suggests a Denver employee made it deliberately and kept it quiet until the 1990s.

The Denver coin holds the record: $82,500 at Superior in 1996, $212,750 at Goldberg in 2003, $1.7 million privately to Bob Simpson in September 2010, then $840,000 at Heritage on 20 June 2021 as a PCGS MS64BN. The best 1943-S, from the same Simpson collection, made $504,000 at Heritage, and a PCGS AU55 1943-S with gold CAC sold for $456,000 at Stack's Bowers on 10 March 2026.

The coins people actually found in change tell the realistic story. Don Lutes, 16, got his in school cafeteria change in Pittsfield, Massachusetts in 1947 and kept it until his death; Heritage sold it for $204,000 in January 2019. Kenneth Wing, 14, found a 1943-S in Long Beach in 1944; it brought $216,000 in August 2019. So a genuine 1943 bronze cent found in the wild is a $200,000 to $250,000 coin: life-changing, and a factor of eight below the headline. Check candidates with a magnet (bronze does not stick) and a scale (3.11 grams against 2.7 for steel); nearly all "1943 coppers" are plated steel or altered 1948 cents.

Record: $840,000, 20 June 2021, Heritage Auctions (1943-D, PCGS MS64BN); $1.7 million private sale, 2010. Typical find: $200,000–$250,000.

Summary of the Top 10 Most Valuable Error Coins Found in Circulation

The Finds That Didn't Make the Cut

Ranking by auction record pushes the most findable modern coins off the list. These are the ones roll hunters actually turn up today, with honest numbers:

• 1982-D small date copper cent. In 1982 the Mint switched from 3.11-gram bronze to 2.5-gram copper-plated zinc, and the Denver small date was only supposed to exist in zinc. Paul Malone of Minnesota found a bronze one on 23 November 2016 by weighing cents; Stack's Bowers sold it for $18,800 on 3 August 2017, the same night a 1983-D bronze cent found by Jeff Young made $17,625. A second, graded AU58, was confirmed in 2019. Two known: the best modern pocket-change story there is.
• 1972 doubled die obverse cent. A PCGS MS67+ Red brought $14,400 at Heritage on 6 June 2019; an MS67 Red made $4,000 in August 2024. Circulated examples are a few hundred dollars.
• 2004-D Wisconsin extra leaf quarters. An Extra Leaf Low in PCGS MS67 sold for $6,000 at Heritage in 2020; the High variety's best is around $825. From change they are $50 to $300 coins, Low about twice High.
• The rest of the roll-hunter's checklist. The 1995 doubled die cent tops out at $4,560 (PCGS MS69 Red, Stack's Bowers, August 2019) and is $20 to $50 from a roll; the 1970-S small date, a design variety identified by level date numerals and a mushy LIBERTY, is worth about $300 in MS66 per NGC; and the 2005-P Kansas "In God We Rust" quarter, where grease blocked the T in the die, is the most over-hyped coin on social media at $20 to $100.

Two Prices, One Coin

A pattern runs through the ten entries that most articles hide. The record prices are set by Mint State coins with full original color, nearly all PCGS-certified, sold in the last five years at GreatCollections or Heritage out of a named collection (Simpson, Blay, Duckor). Those coins never circulated in any meaningful sense; they were pulled from rolls or bags within days of striking and stored for decades. The 1969-S that made $601,875 is the opposite of a pocket-change find.

Coins genuinely found in circulation have a different price curve. The 1918/7-D nickel, the 1916 doubled die nickel and the 1918/7-S quarter went unrecognised for 13 to 46 years, so almost every survivor is worn, and a worn one is priced by thousands of collectors who want the variety, not by two bidders fighting over a population-top coin. A Good 1918/7-D is a $600 coin and a Gem is a $511,875 coin: one variety, two unrelated markets, the same split that runs through the most valuable vinyl records ever sold.

The practical lesson is to grade before you price. When a headline says a 1955 doubled die is "worth $287,000," ask what grade. A brown, scratched, clearly spent coin is worth what brown, scratched, spent examples bring: under $2,000 for the 1955, under $100 for most modern varieties. Wonderful for a coin that cost one cent; not a retirement plan.

What a Realistic Hunt Looks Like

Three habits separate collectors who find these coins from people posting blurry photos of damaged quarters:

• Weigh and magnet-test before you squint. The two best modern finds here were made with a scale, not a loupe. A 1943 cent that resists a magnet, or a 1944 cent that sticks to one, deserves a closer look.
• Learn the diagnostics, not the hype. Genuine doubled dies show rounded, notched doubling at the same height as the design; flat, shelf-like doubling is machine doubling and worth nothing.
• Buy certified if you buy at all. Every coin on this list has been faked or altered: plated 1943 cents, 1948 cents with a reshaped 8, 1937-D nickels with a leg ground off. The discipline that protects buyers of vintage toy cars from avoidable mistakes applies here: pay for authentication, not for a story.

If the hobby appeals but the six-figure numbers do not, that is the right instinct. Error collecting rewards patience, a $20 scale and a willingness to check thousands of ordinary coins, which makes it one of the cheapest entry points among collectible hobbies for beginners: the raw material costs face value and the bank takes it back when you are done. Just remember that the $840,000 penny and the one in your jar share a date, a design and almost nothing else.