1930 Penny Error List with Pictures
A Denver penny struck 20% off center sold for $109 in January 2022. Its shifted design made the mistake clear without needing a tiny detail under high magnification.
Other entries in this 1930 penny error list need closer inspection, especially an extra eyelid or an earlier mintmark outline. Estimated values across the types below range from $3 to $1,500.
Use the feature on your coin to choose a section, then compare its mint and condition.
1. 1930 Lincoln Penny Grease-Blocked Design (Estimated Up to $100)
A letter can appear faint beside stronger detail when material blocks a small opening in the stamping tool. The metal cannot fill that part of the design normally.
The 1930 year reports include this grease-blocked effect. They do not establish a particular missing letter or mint for every example.
Grease describes a proposed cause, not a name for all weak lettering. Wear, polishing, and worn tools can also remove or soften detail.
The surrounding surface therefore matters as much as the weak spot. A local blockage should be examined alongside neighboring letters and the portrait’s exposed high points.
Estimated Value
For supported minor grease-blocked detail, estimate $3–$100. The clearer the interruption and surviving original surface, the more useful the comparison.
A worn 1933-D back struck-through cent sold for $30 in October 2022. Its obstruction was not specified, so the sale offers only a general comparison for interrupted design.
That other-year result does not establish grease on a 1930 candidate. A faint letter explained by ordinary wear should not acquire the same error premium.
How to Identify
Photograph both faces before concentrating on a missing letter. Compare wear on the exposed portrait and neighboring letters to decide whether the faint patch is unusual for the coin’s condition.
Check an accessible coin with a scale and calipers against 3.11 grams and 19.05 millimeters. Inspect its plain edge for later damage, keeping in mind that these checks cannot identify a blocked tool.
Now sweep a lamp across the weak area through a 10× magnifier. Scratches or polishing lines crossing finished detail offer a different explanation from a design that failed to form.
Use a normal coin with similar wear beside it so a generally worn penny does not become a claimed grease error.
2. 1930 Lincoln Penny Lamination (Estimated Up to $300)
An opening beneath a thin layer can show where the alloy separated inside the penny. The layer may remain attached or break away, leaving a rough patch.
This failure is called lamination and is reported for 1930 cents. The general report does not establish one face or exact peeling path.
The coin is copper-rich alloy throughout. Its peeling cannot be explained as a copper coating falling from the zinc center used in modern cents.
Color streaks alone do not prove separation. A visible layer boundary or exposed interior is more useful than an unusual brown patch.
Estimated Value
Estimate $5–$300 for genuine 1930 laminations, allowing for size, preservation, and how much metal remains attached. A minor worn flake may add very little.
A 1941-S retained back layer brought $69 in April 2020 on a PCGS MS66 Red coin. That grade describes a well-preserved unworn penny retaining original copper color.
The sale is a different-year comparison for visible peeling. It does not supply a price or a fixed location for every 1930 layer.
How to Identify
Look from the side before touching a suspected flap. A low lamp and 10× magnifier can reveal the opening that already exists beneath the thin sheet.
If a piece has gone, follow the rough boundary into the remaining surface. A gouge may cut across completed detail and push metal beside it, while corrosion can leave pits without a continuous separating layer.
A scale compares safe-to-handle examples with 3.11 grams, but an attached flap may leave weight nearly normal. Use calipers away from loose metal against 19.05 millimeters, and photograph the plain edge if the seam reaches it.
Preserve the existing attachment rather than lifting the layer to make the gap easier to see.
3. 1930 Lincoln Penny Clipped Blank (Estimated Up to $350)
The press can receive an incomplete blank and stamp the metal that remains. The finished penny then has a gap that existed before its portrait and lettering formed.
The 1930 reports include clipped blanks without assigning a single shape or clock position. The actual gap must supply those details.
A curved opening can come from the blank-cutting punch overlapping a previous hole in the metal sheet. A different boundary needs its own explanation.
This differs from an unstruck crescent on an off-center coin, where the metal remains present. It also differs from cutting a piece from a finished penny.
Estimated Value
For genuine 1930 clips, use an estimated $15–$350. Larger original gaps and better-preserved surfaces usually offer more to examine than a small worn notch.
A 1925 curved clip graded ANACS VF20 and weighing 2.92 grams sold for $56 in March 2023. It is a visibly worn same-series comparison.
Its recorded weight does not belong to every 1930 clip. Choose a comparison with similar missing metal and condition rather than copying a percentage from another photograph.
How to Identify
Measure an intact span with calipers against the ordinary 19.05-millimeter diameter. Measuring across the missing piece would make a full-size but incomplete blank appear smaller than it began.
Weigh the accessible coin on a scale against 3.11 grams, then inspect its plain edge at 10×. A low weight alone cannot tell whether metal disappeared before or after striking.
At each end of the gap, examine how the nearby rim and letters formed. Fresh saw marks or cuts through completed detail need a later-damage explanation.
Look across the coin for possible weakness opposite the missing section. This can support a genuine clip, but it is one clue to weigh alongside the original boundary.
4. 1930 Lincoln Penny Broadstrike (Estimated Up to $500)
A wide penny can form when the collar fails to contain its metal during striking. The collar is the ring that normally controls the finished outline.
A broadstrike retains the complete intended design, even when its surrounding border is uneven. An off-center strike instead leaves some design beyond the available metal.
The 1930 year reports include broadstrikes without establishing one mint, grade, or measured width. Each coin needs its own outline examined.
Hammering a finished penny can also spread it. The important distinction is whether the extra width formed with the original design or through later crushing.
Estimated Value
Estimate $25–$500 for genuine 1930 broadstrikes with different spread and preservation. A natural margin around complete lettering gives a clearer comparison than a battered wide edge.
A 1920 NGC MS62 Brown broadstrike sold for $119 in March 2026. Its grade describes an unworn coin with noticeable marks and brown color.
That different-year result offers context for a Wheat-cent broadstrike. It does not establish a mint or exact size for the general 1930 report.
How to Identify
Check the outermost lettering on both faces first. If part of the intended design missed the metal, an off-center strike needs consideration instead of a simple broadstrike.
Record the widest and narrowest spans with calipers against 19.05 millimeters, and weigh the coin on a scale against 3.11 grams. Spreading does not create additional metal.
At 10×, follow the plain edge and widened margin for a seam, added ring, or hammer blows. A complete outline alone cannot rule out later damage.
Inspect the portrait for flattened details from later hammering. The widened edge and the design must both support spreading during the strike.
An uneven margin alone does not overturn a broadstrike identification when the whole design remains present.
5. 1930 Lincoln Penny Doubled Die (Estimated Up to $500)
An extra line below Lincoln’s eyelid appears on several Philadelphia 1930 varieties. The repeated detail was already present in the die, the steel stamping tool.
The tool then passed its doubled design onto coins. It did not need to strike each penny twice to create the small extra line.
Another Philadelphia tool has a thickened back design. That type does not require every letter to split into two clearly separated outlines.
A crack near the bottom of Lincoln’s portrait helps identify the paired front on that back variety. The crack is an accompanying feature, not the cause of the doubling.
Estimated Value
Matched modest doubled designs fit an estimated $5–$500, depending on clarity and preservation. An extra eyelid visible only in a blurry picture needs a better comparison before pricing.
A 1936 FS-103 doubled-front cent graded ANACS MS63 Brown sold for $70 in June 2024. That is an unworn, different-year example with marks and brown color.
Its sale offers a minor-variety comparison. The 1930 eyelid forms and thickened back still require their own photographed matches.
How to Identify
For an eye variety, place a Philadelphia reference beside the coin and inspect below the main eyelid at 10×. Several patterns share that general location, so compare the whole eye and nearby small marks.
A scale and calipers check a loose normal cent against 3.11 grams and 19.05 millimeters, with a plain edge. Those readings cannot choose which doubled tool made it.
For the back variety, turn away from the portrait and compare the thickened lettering and Wheat design. The same coin also has a front crack to match.
Find the VDB initials near the base of Lincoln’s portrait. The crack runs from just above them toward the rim around seven-thirty.
6. 1930 Lincoln Penny Die Cracks, BIE Chips, and Cuds (Estimated Up to $750)
A small raised bar can make LIBERTY look as though it has an I between B and E. This tool chip is called a BIE.
Longer cracks in the stamping tool can produce thin raised lines. If a larger piece falls from the tool’s edge, copper fills the opening and forms a rim-connected patch called a cud.
These forms are reported for 1930 without one universal location for cracks or cuds. The actual shape must guide the comparison.
A crack can also accompany another variety, such as the thickened Philadelphia back. That does not make the two features separate coins.
Estimated Value
Small BIE chips and fine cracks can fit an estimated $3–$50. Larger original rim cuds can range around $40–$750, according to size and preservation.
A worn 1934 major-break penny sold for $41 in August 2021, graded ANACS F12. That same-series comparison shows why the amount of wear still matters on a named error.
The 1930 ranges are whole-coin estimates. An accompanying doubled design or mintmark variety should be considered together with the break.
How to Identify
A suspected BIE needs the correct letters on either side, so read the word before examining a small bar. At 10×, change the light to distinguish raised copper from a scratch in the gap.
For a larger patch, inspect the plain edge first for squeezing or added material. A scale and calipers compare accessible measurements with 3.11 grams and 19.05 millimeters, although a normal result cannot prove a cud.
Follow the patch to the rim and check whether it replaces normal design. If letters survive inside a displaced section, compare a retained break; if only a thin line joins rim points, the tool may have cracked without losing its whole section.
7. 1930 Lincoln Penny Off-Center Strike (Estimated Up to $1,200)
A bare crescent and an incomplete design can show that the blank sat away from the center of the press. Part of the intended image missed the metal.
A documented 1930-D example is 20% off center toward eight o’clock. ANACS graded it AU58, meaning it has only slight circulation wear.
The unused metal remains part of the blank, unlike a clipped segment that is absent. Its relationship to the surviving portrait and lettering explains the displacement.
The stated direction and percentage describe this particular Denver coin. They should not be assigned automatically to another penny with a different shifted outline.
Estimated Value
The 20% off-center Denver example sold for $109 on January 3, 2022. That price concerns a lightly worn coin with its own displacement.
Estimate $30–$1,200 across genuine dated examples of differing shift and preservation. A readable year, original unused surface, and clear shape make stronger comparisons than a damaged or poorly identified piece.
The 20% figure does not independently set the price. Compare the surviving design and condition as well as the amount of unused metal.
How to Identify
Orient the date upright before checking the eight-o’clock displacement on the recorded example. Keep the D and complete surviving year visible in the comparison photograph.
A precise scale can compare the intact blank with 3.11 grams. Use calipers to record its actual outline against a regular cent’s 19.05-millimeter width rather than treating an unusual span as missing metal.
Photograph both faces and follow where their designs run beyond the blank. One misplaced blank should explain the relationship between the two sides.
Under a 10× magnifier, inspect the plain crescent and edge for scraping or grinding. A finished design deliberately removed afterward does not create original unstruck copper.
8. 1930 Lincoln Penny Repunched Mintmark (Estimated Up to $1,500)
An extra curve above a mintmark can preserve an earlier punch position. Workers added the D or S by hand to the tool before it made coins.
Several Denver varieties show earlier detail above the main D. On FS-502, an early strong curve can become partial as the tool wears.
San Francisco has upward, sideways, and tilted S patterns. Its FS-501 is an upward repunch, but other upward patterns have their own small surrounding marks.
A repeated direction does not make every example the same variety. The letter’s shape, position beneath the date, and nearby tool marks help separate them.
Estimated Value
Modest identified 1930 repunches can fit an estimated $5–$250. Better-preserved named varieties with clear earlier strokes can extend toward $1,500.
These figures compare collectible Wheat-cent mintmark varieties, including the condition of the entire penny. They do not assign a high-grade premium to every thick D or S.
An earlier tool stage may show a fuller curve than a later one. That visible difference should be considered alongside wear to the coin itself when selecting a comparison.
How to Identify
Photograph the mintmark with the date upright and the neighboring digits still in view. On Denver FS-502, look above the D at 10× and compare both early and later tool-stage pictures.
For San Francisco, select an S reference rather than moving a Denver outline into place. An upward extra S and a sideways or tilted overlap require different matches.
Check the plain edge and mintmark base for alteration. A scale and calipers can compare the accessible coin with 3.11 grams and 19.05 millimeters.
Then align the letter’s position below the date in both pictures. Confirm that the extra curve follows an S before comparing its position and nearby marks with the San Francisco reference.
Conclusion
A small extra S, a peeling sheet, and a large unused crescent come from different stages of minting. Matching that physical feature is more useful than calling every unusual penny doubled.
Estimated prices span $3–$1,500, with the $109 Denver off-center sale providing one concrete example. Keep the date and mint visible in your photographs, and leave fragile layers untouched while you compare the original surface.