1916 Penny Error List with Pictures

An extra design can be a tiny thickened letter or part of an entire second strike. One 1916 penny with a second, off-center blow sold for $600 in October 2022.

This 1916 penny error list follows those visible differences through estimated values of $2–$2,000. It also covers peeling metal, incomplete blanks, and missing-tool patches.

Read on for the checks that separate each type. The grainy surface of a genuine 1916 Matte Proof, a specially prepared collector coin, is a normal finish.

1. 1916 Lincoln Penny Grease-Filled Design (Estimated Up to $100)

Part of the Wheat back may look faint while nearby detail remains clearer. A reported 1916-S example attributes this local weakness to grease in the stamping tool.

Packed material can stop coin metal from reaching the tool’s small design recesses. The affected area then appears incomplete on the struck coin.

The report does not establish one particular missing word or a fixed patch on every example. The surface of the actual coin must show the local interruption.

Ordinary wear can also weaken small lettering. A polished area or a generally weak strike needs to be distinguished from a localized blockage.

Estimated Value

Estimate $2–$100 for a supported grease-filled error. Minor weakness may add little, while a larger interruption surrounded by original detail can be easier to recognize.

This is a comparison range for small blocked-design errors on Wheat cents. It is not a documented sale assigned to the reported San Francisco back.

A faint letter alone does not earn the full range. The coin’s wear and the condition of the surrounding surface need to support the explanation before an error premium applies.

How to Identify

Choose a normal cent with similar wear before inspecting the weak area. Compare exposed high points and neighboring letters to see whether ordinary rubbing explains the loss.

Under a 10× magnifier, look across the transition into clearer detail. A lamp moved from side to side can reveal polishing lines that disappear in a flat photograph.

Confirm the S below the date, but do not transfer a missing-letter position from another year. Take a full back photograph along with the close-up.

For an accessible coin, a scale and calipers check about 3.11 grams and 19.05 millimeters. Inspect its smooth edge too; these checks support the coin’s identity without establishing what filled the tool.

 

2. 1916 Lincoln Penny Die Clash (Estimated Up to $250)

A faint part of Lincoln’s outline can appear where the back should have open space. The marks may come from the two stamping tools hitting each other without a blank.

The tools are called dies, and their collision is a die clash. A damaged tool can then pass a trace of the opposite design to later coins.

Back-side clashes are reported for 1916 without one fixed mint or exact line established for every example. A recognizable design connection matters more than a vague shadow.

Random scratches can cross the same open areas, but they do not reproduce another coin design.

Estimated Value

For a genuine identifiable clash, use an estimated $10–$250. A trace that can be matched to part of the opposite design is more useful than an isolated unexplained line.

The range reflects comparable minor Wheat-cent clashes rather than a confirmed 1916 auction result. Strength, wear, and surface damage all affect the comparison.

Do not price every back-side mark as Lincoln’s profile. A scratch or reflection that merely suggests a face does not establish transferred design from a tool collision.

How to Identify

Turn a normal cent over and compare its two designs before tracing the suspect line. A clash claim should explain which opposite-face feature could have produced that shape.

Use a magnifier and side lighting to follow the faint mark through the open area. A random scratch may change course without following any recognizable part of the design.

Keep the date and mintmark in a separate full-front photograph. The reported type does not justify assigning one mint’s mark to all 1916 cents.

When safely accessible, weigh against 3.11 grams and measure width against 19.05 millimeters with calipers. Inspect the smooth edge for later pressing, and retain unmarked photographs alongside any traced comparison.

 

3. 1916 Lincoln Penny Repunched Mintmark (Estimated Up to $400)

A mintmark can carry remnants of more than one punch placement. Workers applied D and S by hand to the steel tools before those tools struck coins.

The San Francisco pattern has an earlier stroke to the left and a widely separated lower remnant. These form part of a repeated S.

Denver has separately reported northeast and rotated outlines. The northeast example comes from a worn coin, so a filled center in its D is not enough to establish repunching.

Each pattern needs the correct letter comparison. Several punch traces do not mean the coin was struck that many times.

Estimated Value

Use an estimated $10–$400 for a matched mintmark repunch. Clear separated strokes and preserved surfaces support stronger comparisons than a thick letter on a heavily worn coin.

The range follows minor early Wheat-cent repunches. It is not a recorded auction price for each 1916 catalog entry.

For the questioned Denver pattern, apply the range only after its extra D outline is established. A filled letter center or an ordinary mintmark-position difference should not receive a repunch premium by itself.

How to Identify

Find the extra S strokes to the left and below the main letter when comparing the San Francisco form. Use a 10× magnifier to trace their curves rather than counting bright edges.

For Denver, distinguish the northeast outline from the rotated pattern. A filled D center alone cannot identify either form.

Repeat the close-up under different lighting and keep the date upright in every picture. That prevents a tilted photograph from making unrelated letter shapes appear to match.

Check the smooth edge and use a scale and calipers when safely accessible against 3.11 grams and 19.05 millimeters. For a worn candidate, ask for a sharper matching example before deciding that a faint bump represents another letter placement.

 

4. 1916 Lincoln Penny Lamination (Estimated Up to $500)

A thin part of the surface can lift along Lincoln’s neck and collar. On the documented Philadelphia coin, that layer remains attached rather than leaving only an empty patch.

The failure is called lamination. A weak layer inside the copper alloy lets part of the metal separate from the rest.

Denver and San Francisco laminations are also reported, but their locations need their own photographs. The neck-and-collar pattern belongs to the Philadelphia example.

These records describe peeling layers, not a penny divided into two halves. The original copper-rich alloy has no modern zinc center beneath a thin copper coating.

Estimated Value

The Philadelphia example graded PCGS MS66 Red sold for $149.50 in May 2005. MS66 describes a well-preserved unworn coin, while Red refers to its surviving copper color.

Estimate $5–$500 across smaller worn peels and better-preserved examples. The historic sale priced the entire attractive coin, not a separate charge for its neck lamination.

An attached layer should stay untouched. Pulling it away or cleaning the exposed area can reduce both the evidence of the error and the coin’s appeal.

How to Identify

Leave the neck-and-collar flap attached when examining the Philadelphia example. A low lamp and magnifier can reveal the open boundary without lifting it farther.

Follow that boundary beneath the surface where it is already visible. A scrape cuts across finished detail, while corrosion may leave scattered pits without a connected thin layer.

Compare the full front before applying this location to a Denver or San Francisco coin. Those reports do not establish the same peeling path.

Record weight against 3.11 grams only when handling is safe. Calipers can compare sound areas with 19.05 millimeters; avoid loose metal and photograph the smooth edge if the separation extends to it.

Save any already detached piece without attempting to reattach it.

 

5. 1916 Lincoln Penny Struck Through Material (Estimated Up to $500)

An elongated oval depression dominates the lower-right back of one San Francisco penny. Something between the blank and the stamping tool blocked the design as the coin was struck.

The auction description compares its outline with an American football. It does not identify the material that made the impression.

This example is graded NGC MS62 Brown, meaning unworn with noticeable marks and brown copper color. Slight green corrosion on the back is a separate surface problem.

The depression should not automatically be called grease or a retained object. Its struck-through explanation concerns the original interruption of the design.

Estimated Value

Estimate $20–$500 for an original struck-through impression of this general scale, allowing for wear and surface condition. The elongated shape needs to be clearly distinguished from a later gouge.

For comparison, a 1920 cent struck through a loose metal flake sold for $134 in March 2025. That different-year example identifies its obstruction; the 1916-S record does not.

The comparison therefore does not establish what made the 1916 depression. Corrosion and cleaning also affect a whole-coin valuation.

How to Identify

Locate the lower-right back depression first and examine its boundary with a magnifier. Look where nearby design meets the long oval rather than judging the shape alone.

An obstruction changes how the design forms around it. A later sharp tool instead cuts or pushes through completed detail.

Use side lighting to inspect the surface without cleaning away the green corrosion described on the example. Photograph that condition separately from the original impression.

An accessible coin can be weighed against 3.11 grams and measured with calipers against 19.05 millimeters. Check the smooth edge for other damage.

Keep the S and full 1916 date in the front view so this specific back feature remains tied to the correct coin.

 

6. 1916 Lincoln Penny Doubled Die (Estimated Up to $600)

Some letters look enlarged instead of showing two clearly separated copies. The cataloged Philadelphia back forms involve thickened motto letters, Wheat details, and stems.

One catalog also points to the top of ONE and the lower parts of OF AMERICA. Those locations belong to its back-side description.

A repeated design in the stamping tool is called a doubled die. It can change thickness without producing two full letters.

Front-side doubling is also reported for 1916, but it needs its own matched specimen. A back-side catalog number does not establish a doubled date or portrait because another listing calls it one.

Estimated Value

A matched minor doubled design can fit an estimated $10–$600. Clear features and preserved surfaces matter, but broad lettering alone does not establish a premium.

A separate 1936 doubled-front cent sold for $70 in June 2024, graded ANACS MS63 Brown. That grade describes an unworn coin with marks and brown color.

Use it only as a general later-year comparison. The 1916 Philadelphia back forms and the reported front type need their own photographs before a variety-specific price can be applied.

How to Identify

For a Philadelphia back, compare the motto and Wheat features with an ordinary cent at the same magnification. Thickening may be the feature even when no letter divides into two complete outlines.

Use a 10× magnifier on the stems, then follow the particular catalog’s ONE and OF AMERICA locations. Keep separate reference pictures separate unless they are shown to identify the same tool.

A proposed front error needs front-side evidence. Inspect the date, LIBERTY, and motto without treating a back catalog number as proof.

Check the smooth edge and record accessible measurements with a scale and calipers against 3.11 grams and 19.05 millimeters. Request sharper images if blur or wear prevents a shape-by-shape comparison.

 

7. 1916 Lincoln Penny Broadstrike (Estimated Up to $600)

A penny can spread into an uneven outline when the surrounding ring fails to contain it normally. That ring is called the collar, and the resulting error is a broadstrike.

A Denver example illustrates an uncentered broadstrike: one margin is wider, but the design remains complete. Philadelphia examples are also recorded.

A San Francisco auction coin has conflicting wording, called off center in its title and a broadstrike in its description. It has a wide margin toward eleven-thirty.

The visible design decides the distinction. Extra border with full design differs from a blank that misses part of the design altogether.

Estimated Value

A Philadelphia NGC MS63 Brown broadstrike sold for $159 in June 2024. Use an estimated $30–$600 for comparable broadstrikes with differing spread and preservation.

The San Francisco coin with conflicting title and description brought $207 in November 2004. Its sale remains valid even though the two labels require checking against its photographs.

Do not add an off-center premium to that same coin merely because both terms appear. Condition and the actual expanded design should guide one valuation.

How to Identify

Trace the outermost design on both faces before deciding whether the coin is off center. If everything intended remains on the metal, an uneven border can fit an uncentered broadstrike.

For the San Francisco auction coin, inspect the wide margin near eleven-thirty along with the opposite border. The conflicting written labels should not replace that visual check.

Use calipers to record width against 19.05 millimeters and a scale against 3.11 grams when safe. Spreading alone does not remove the blank’s metal.

A magnifier can reveal joins or added rings along the smooth edge. Look across the portrait and lettering for later crushing that widened a completed coin instead of an original broadstrike.

 

8. 1916 Lincoln Penny Clipped Planchet (Estimated Up to $600)

A prepared blank is called a planchet, and part of it can be missing before the press strikes. The resulting coin may have a small rim gap or a curved missing section.

One Philadelphia example has a minor rim clip. A San Francisco curved-clip coin is recorded at 3.04 grams and graded ANACS VG8, meaning heavily worn.

Another Philadelphia coin combines a clip near two o’clock with a 15% off-center strike toward twelve. Its two features belong to one piece.

These need separate photographs. The curve, weight, and shifted design should not be borrowed from one specimen to describe another.

Estimated Value

Estimate $15–$350 for genuine small or curved clips, and roughly $75–$600 for the clipped off-center combination. The date’s clarity and the original missing boundary matter.

The combined 1916 error appeared with a 1919 broadstrike in a two-coin lot sold for $345 in January 2005. That price covers both coins rather than the 1916 penny alone.

The San Francisco clip’s 3.04-gram measurement is physical evidence, not a price. Its wear and small missing section need a suitable separate comparison.

How to Identify

Keep the San Francisco coin’s scale reading with its own photographs. Its recorded 3.04 grams should not be assigned to the Philadelphia rim clip or the combined error.

A normal cent weighs 3.11 grams and measures 19.05 millimeters across. Use a scale and calipers when safely accessible, measuring an intact span rather than across the missing section.

Under a magnifier, examine the smooth surviving edge and the nearby struck rim. Saw cuts, fresh burrs, and cuts through completed letters can reveal later damage.

On the combined coin, locate the two-o’clock clip separately from the upward-shifted design. Save both faces so the missing blank metal and the off-center strike can be assessed together.

 

9. 1916 Lincoln Penny Defective Planchet (Estimated Up to $800)

A 1916-S penny recorded at 2.9 grams was struck on a defective blank. That is lighter than the normal 3.11-gram standard for this copper-alloy cent.

NGC graded the example MS64 Brown, indicating an unworn coin with some marks and brown color. The auction description names a blank defect without specifying a split or foreign metal.

The weight difference is useful evidence, but it cannot explain the cause by itself. A missing layer, a thin area, and later metal removal need different checks.

The actual surface and edge must therefore support the blank description rather than a guessed more specific mechanism.

Estimated Value

The NGC MS64 Brown 2.9-gram example sold for $336 in July 2021. An estimated $100–$800 allows for comparable confirmed blank defects and differing preservation.

That range does not assign a foreign-blank premium or claim that the coin split into two layers. Its recorded identity is the broader defective-blank type.

The date, mintmark, weight, and original surfaces should all agree with the coin being compared. A low scale reading caused by filing a normal cent is a different condition.

How to Identify

Repeat the scale reading before interpreting the 2.9-gram figure. Compare it with the normal 3.11 grams, then use calipers to record width against 19.05 millimeters and check thickness at several safe points.

Confirm the S below the date. Under a magnifier, examine both faces for sanding lines across completed detail and the smooth edge for filing.

A thin or missing area should be photographed as it appears, without deciding in advance that the whole blank split. The stated weight does not identify a foreign alloy either.

For a sealed coin, obtain the recorded measurements and complete grading description instead of opening the holder. Those records should agree with the visible surfaces before a more specific explanation is used.

 

10. 1916 Lincoln Penny Die Cracks, BIE Chips, and Cuds (Estimated Up to $1,000)

A raised line copies a crack in the stamping tool, while missing tool metal can leave a raised lump. A bar between B and E is called a BIE chip.

Philadelphia has a broad rim-connected patch beside the left of LIBERTY, around eight-thirty to nine-thirty. Denver has a back rim break near ten to eleven.

San Francisco examples include a slender upper-left front rim break and a larger right-side patch above the date’s final digit. Their positions identify different coins.

A large patch replacing normal design is called a cud. Small cracks and internal chips have different appearances and prices.

Estimated Value

Small cracks and BIE chips can fit an estimated $2–$50. For genuine rim-connected breaks, use approximately $30–$1,000, depending on size and condition.

A 1958-D front cud sold for $312 in March 2021, providing a later Wheat-cent comparison. That unworn example does not set the price of a tiny 1916 line or chip.

Match the affected face and location before comparing. A long narrow rim break and a broad patch extending into LIBERTY need different assessments.

How to Identify

Use the mintmark to choose the correct face and location. For Philadelphia, inspect the rim left of LIBERTY; for Denver, turn to the back’s upper-left rim.

The two San Francisco front forms need separate pictures. One follows the upper-left rim, while the other intrudes near the right edge above the final date digit.

With a magnifier, follow a raised patch to the border and check whether it replaces design. A catalog letter identifying the back does not itself mean a broken tool piece stayed attached.

Inspect the smooth edge for solder or squeezing. When accessible, a scale and calipers check 3.11 grams and 19.05 millimeters; a lamp across a suspected BIE should show a raised bar between B and E.

 

11. 1916 Lincoln Penny Off-Center Strike (Estimated Up to $1,500)

A blank can sit partly outside the stamping area, leaving a plain arc beside an incomplete design. The missing image and unused metal should fit the same position on both faces.

Philadelphia examples include a 20% shift toward one o’clock. Denver records include separate 5%, roughly 10%, and 15% off-center coins.

San Francisco has a worn, scratched 10% example shifted toward twelve, among other reports. It should not inherit an unworn coin’s appearance or price.

Each direction belongs to its own specimen. An incomplete design is the key difference from an expanded broadstrike that still retains all the intended lettering.

Estimated Value

A Philadelphia 20% example graded ANACS MS64 Brown sold for $210 in January 2022. A worn and scratched San Francisco 10% example brought $54 in October 2022.

Estimate $40–$1,500 across genuine dated off-center cents of different mints, shifts, and condition. The Philadelphia grade describes an unworn coin with some marks.

The large price spread is not determined by percentage alone. Surface damage and the survival of the year and mintmark strongly affect which coin makes a useful comparison.

How to Identify

Find the date and mintmark before borrowing a shift percentage from an auction description. A 5% Denver coin, a 20% Philadelphia coin, and a scratched San Francisco piece are separate examples.

Compare full photographs of both faces at the same scale. Their incomplete designs should fit one blank displaced beneath the tools.

An accessible coin can be checked on a scale against 3.11 grams. Calipers record its actual outline against the normal 19.05-millimeter width without assuming metal had to be lost.

Use a magnifier along the smooth edge and blank arc for grinding or cuts. If one face remains centered and complete while the other shifts, examine tool misalignment instead of assigning the off-center label immediately.

 

12. 1916 Lincoln Penny Double Strike (Estimated Up to $2,000)

A second blow can put another design position across the first. On one Philadelphia 1916 cent, the later strike is off center and leaves a visible shifted image.

Another Philadelphia example turned between blows while remaining inside the collar, the ring surrounding the blank. Its overlapping designs stay within a roughly circular outline.

The auction shorthand D/S means double struck in this record. It does not mean a Denver mintmark punched over an S.

Both forms require evidence of two actual blows. A single thick letter or a turned back design by itself does not establish a double strike.

Estimated Value

The off-center double strike graded NGC MS64 Brown sold for $600 in October 2022. The in-collar example, graded PCGS VG10, brought $555 in April 2023.

Estimate $150–$2,000 for different genuine double-strike forms. The first grade describes an unworn coin with marks, while VG10 indicates heavy wear.

The similar auction prices show why condition alone does not settle value. Buyers also need to see how clearly the surviving designs explain the second blow and the coin’s movement.

How to Identify

Map the two design positions on a copy of the photograph. Trace a date digit and another letter that moved with it, rather than counting every surface ridge as a separate blow.

For the off-center form, follow the later image into its own strike boundary. For the in-collar form, compare the turned design positions inside the existing outline.

A top-to-bottom flip only tests the alignment of the two faces. It cannot prove that either face received two strikes.

Use a magnifier to check how the images cross. Then inspect the smooth edge for later pressing or joined pieces.

When safely accessible, compare scale and caliper readings with 3.11 grams and 19.05 millimeters; preserve whole-face views alongside the enlarged overlaps.

 

Conclusion

The surface, outline, and position of the design answer different questions on a 1916 penny. A peeling layer points into the metal, while repeated design positions point to the stamping process.

Estimated values extend from $2 to $2,000, with the $600 double-strike result showing one real example. Keep normal Matte Proof texture separate from errors, and match each mint’s actual feature before using its price as a comparison.