2005 Penny Error List with Pictures
A 2005 Lincoln cent carrying a second design—a Bison nickel—sold for $26,400 in September 2025. The nickel design was struck over an already finished penny.
That dramatic piece sits at the high end of this 2005 penny error list. Smaller discoveries include an extra bar in LIBERTY, doubled Memorial details, and a step around the edge.
Estimated values range from $5–$30,000. Work through the examples below to see which features separate these errors from ordinary wear or damage.
1. 2005 Lincoln Penny Partial Collar Strike (Estimated Up to $35)
A step around the edge can be easier to spot from the side than from either face. Part of the blank sat inside the collar, the ring that normally limits outward expansion.
The exposed part could spread farther during the strike. This leaves different widths along the edge instead of one even side wall.
Fred Weinberg’s inventory specifically lists 2005 partial-collar cents. They are separate from his off-center-looking broadstrikes.
A normal penny has a plain edge. Missing grooves therefore cannot identify this error, and a dent in one small edge area needs to be separated from the stepped shape.
Estimated Value
Weinberg’s historical list asked $5 for a 2005 partial-collar cent described as choice brilliant uncirculated. That means an attractive coin without circulation wear, not a completed auction sale.
An estimated $5–$35 is a practical range for identifiable examples. Clear edge steps and undamaged surfaces make the feature easier to appreciate.
A barely visible step may attract less interest than a strong one. Protective holders can also make the edge harder to examine before purchase.
How to Identify
View the coin from the side under a 10× magnifier. Follow the change in width around the edge and note whether it forms a consistent step.
Look for squeezed metal or isolated impact dents that could have altered the edge later. The two faces should retain surfaces that agree with the striking explanation.
Use calipers gently to compare the narrower and wider edge levels with the normal 19.05-mm diameter. A scale should relate to the usual 2.50-g copper-plated zinc cent.
For a sealed coin, use clear edge photographs rather than opening the holder. The quickest useful feature is a struck edge with two levels, not simply a damaged rim.
2. 2005 Lincoln Penny BIE Die Chip (Estimated Up to $50)
An upright bar between B and E can make LIBERTY appear to contain another letter. Metal filled a small break in the stamping tool.
Collectors call this a BIE error. A die is the steel tool that stamps the coin’s design, and a tiny piece can chip away between nearby letters.
The year guide reports this feature for 2005 without identifying a particular mint. Its name describes the location, not a newly added letter in the original design.
A scratch or a plating blister near LIBERTY has another cause. Check the raised shape instead of relying on the nickname.
Estimated Value
BIE chips are approachable errors for a small collection. Estimate $5–$50 for identified 2005 examples, with a strong upright bar on a clean unworn coin toward the upper end.
This is a type-based range, not an auction record for a particular 2005 die. Tiny irregular bumps may carry only a small premium.
The bar’s position helps explain its appeal. Damage through LIBERTY or corrosion around the letters can make the feature harder to judge and reduce interest.
How to Identify
Place LIBERTY under a 10× magnifier and locate the space between B and E. The extra upright shape should rise above the smooth area, rather than cut into it.
Compare its connection to the two letters with a normal cent, and inspect for a thin copper bubble. A groove with metal pushed along its edge could instead be a scratch made after striking.
Check the normal 2.50-g weight and 19.05-mm diameter with a scale and calipers, without touching the raised feature. The direct first check is a solid, letter-like bar occupying the B–E gap, not a mark elsewhere in LIBERTY.
3. 2005 Lincoln Penny Doubled Front Design (Estimated Up to $100)
A second design contour on the portrait side can come from a doubled stamping tool. The tool carries the extra detail before the blank enters the press.
The 2005 guide includes front doubling without identifying a numbered variety. A fixed extra ear or doubled date should not be assumed.
The visible feature has to be matched to a reliable example. Slight thickness alone can come from other changes in the tool or strike.
Flat ledges beside letters are especially common lookalikes. They can result from movement during striking rather than a genuinely doubled design.
Estimated Value
Use an estimated $10–$100 for a clearly identified minor front doubled-die variety. Stronger extra contours and good preservation support more interest than vague thickening.
The report does not provide a specimen whose grade and exact pattern can support a narrower price. This range therefore applies to the mechanism after the variety has been matched.
A worn coin may still show a clear feature. An unworn label adds little if the alleged doubling cannot be seen.
How to Identify
Check the 2005 date, mint letter, and finish before comparing variety photographs. A normal satin-finish set coin can look different without having an error.
Choose one alleged doubled feature and make a sharp photograph through a 10× magnifier. Keep the normal contour and the extra one in the same view.
Look for rounded separation or a split at a letter corner. A low flat shelf that cuts into the normal design may come from movement during the strike.
Use a scale and calipers against 2.50 g and 19.05 mm. Those measurements identify the basic cent, but they do not prove doubling.
An exact repeated design contour matching a known example provides a better first answer than general thickness.
4. 2005 Lincoln Penny Doubled Memorial Details (Estimated Up to $125)
Look inside the Memorial rather than only at the large words around it. A small repeated shape beside a column or the central statue can reveal a doubled back design.
Wexler’s current WDDR-001 listing shows doubling at the lower right of the sixth column and beside the statue’s right knee.
This replaces an older listing based on wavy steps. The catalog no longer treats those wavy-step features as doubled dies.
The supported example is a no-mint-letter cent. A Denver report needs its own match, and an ordinary example should not automatically be relabeled as satin finish.
Estimated Value
The year guide displays an $18 reported sale in June 2026 for an ANACS MS66 Red extra-column cent. That description does not by itself prove it is WDDR-001.
An estimated $10–$125 accommodates different identified Memorial doubled-die varieties and levels of preservation. MS66 Red describes an unworn coin with few marks and retained copper-red color.
The best price comparison matches the actual extra detail. A label saying extra column is broader than a precise variety identification.
How to Identify
Find the tiny seated statue in the Memorial with a 10× magnifier. Count the columns from the left so that the sixth column is located consistently.
On WDDR-001, inspect its lower right side beside the statue’s legs. Then check the extra contour by the statue’s right knee.
Do not use wavy steps alone as the deciding feature. Compare with the current catalog photograph rather than an older description using the same number.
Photograph the front too, showing the date and mint area. For loose coins, a scale and calipers should read near the normal 2.50 g and 19.05 mm.
The paired column-and-knee details provide the fastest check for this example, rather than the appearance of the steps.
5. 2005 Lincoln Penny Raised Back Die Cracks (Estimated Up to $150)
An extra ridge may cross the Memorial. Metal entered a split in the stamping tool and copied its shape onto the coin.
The year guide reports a back crack on a Philadelphia cent. Wexler also records cracks as identifying marks on several 2005 tools, including one near a column.
These reports do not describe a single path shared by every coin. Each line must be followed on the actual example.
This differs from the BIE chip in LIBERTY and from a crack through the coin. A split coin opens into the metal instead of carrying a raised ridge.
Estimated Value
Longer is not automatically better. A faint ridge on a worn surface may be less attractive than a short, strong crack crossing a recognizable Memorial detail.
Allow an estimated $5–$150 for identified examples. Most small cracks belong near the inexpensive end, while prominent lines on clean unworn coins can command more.
This estimate is for the visible crack, not a separate premium for every tiny tool mark. Keep any doubled-die value distinct when a coin carries both features.
How to Identify
Follow the entire line under a 10× magnifier. Check whether it rises above the Memorial details or cuts down into them.
Move the light to the opposite side and inspect the same area again. A scratch can push metal along one edge, so one bright ridge beside a groove is not enough.
Look for matching photographs when a crack is used to identify a particular tool. Do not join several unrelated short marks into an imagined long crack.
The normal cent weighs 2.50 g and measures 19.05 mm. Use a scale and calipers without scraping the line.
A continuous raised ridge crossing the design, with no cut underneath it, is the clearest initial distinction.
6. 2005 Lincoln Penny Uncentered Broadstrike (Estimated Up to $200)
An uneven blank border can resemble a small off-center strike even when the full design survives. A broadstrike forms when the blank spreads without normal support from the surrounding collar.
The design need not sit neatly in the middle. That is why an uncentered broadstrike can have more empty metal on one side.
Weinberg’s 2005 listing explicitly describes examples that look about 5% off center as broadstrikes. A collector also shows a graded 2005 example.
The distinction is visible in the surviving design. Missing design from a genuinely off-center strike should not be inferred solely from the lopsided border.
Estimated Value
Weinberg’s historical asking price was $15 for a 2005 uncentered broadstrike. It was an inventory offer, not a record of what a buyer paid.
Estimate $15–$200 for comparable identified examples, allowing more for strong spreading and attractive original surfaces. A slight border imbalance belongs near the lower end.
The year guide also reports a much higher $916 example, but that original sale is not established here. It does not reset the value of every modest broadstrike.
How to Identify
Check whether the full portrait, lettering, and Memorial remain present before judging the wide border. Their completeness helps distinguish this shape from a true off-center impression.
Calipers can document the expanded outline against the normal 19.05-mm width. Measure in several directions rather than assuming the coin remains perfectly round.
Inspect the rim and high design points with a 10× magnifier. Later crushing can spread a cent while flattening its existing details.
A scale should show close to the usual 2.50 g if no metal has been lost. The plain edge is normal for this denomination.
The useful first combination is complete design with an expanded, uneven border and original struck surfaces.
7. 2005 Lincoln Penny Off-Center Strike (Estimated Up to $350)
An off-center strike leaves part of the blank without a design and cuts off part of the intended impression. The blank sat outside the correct position between the stamping tools.
The 2005 year guide lists this error, but the report does not fix a mint or percentage. Those details must come from the actual coin.
This is not the same as Weinberg’s uncentered broadstrikes. Their uneven borders can look similar while preserving the full design.
A surviving date is especially helpful on a shifted impression. The blank crescent can have ordinary handling marks without losing its original unstruck character.
Estimated Value
For identified pieces, an estimated $20–$350 covers modest shifts through stronger examples with readable dates. This is a general comparison range rather than a confirmed 2005 auction result.
The amount of missing design affects appeal, but so does what survives. A large shift that removes the date can be less useful to a year collector.
Original surfaces and recognizable Memorial details help support the upper end. A wide border without missing design belongs in the broadstrike comparison instead.
How to Identify
Locate the edge of the struck design on each face. A 10× magnifier can show where the impression meets original unstruck metal.
Compare both sides before estimating a percentage. A shift affecting mainly one face may concern the alignment of one stamping tool instead.
Check the date and any mint letter wherever they survive. Do not borrow a percentage from a broadstrike that merely looks off center.
Weigh the coin with a scale against the normal 2.50 g. Calipers record changes from the normal 19.05-mm outline without assuming the blank area represents missing metal.
The decisive first feature is incomplete design next to original blank metal, rather than a full design surrounded by uneven borders.
8. 2005 Lincoln Penny Missing Copper Plating (Estimated Up to $800)
A gray area may be zinc that did not receive its normal copper covering. Modern cents have a zinc core beneath a thin copper coating.
The Philadelphia report does not establish whether missing plating affects all or part of the coin. Both faces and the edge help show its extent.
A silver-colored penny is not automatically this error. Later coatings can change its color, and chemicals can remove copper from a normal cent.
The exposed surface should therefore be examined for original struck detail. Corrosion can also attack zinc, leaving roughness that needs to be separated from a production defect.
Estimated Value
The extent of missing copper and the condition of the exposed zinc both affect value. Estimate $50–$800 for identified examples, from small partial areas to convincing, well-preserved pieces.
The year guide reports $710 for an example described as MS65, meaning unworn with relatively few marks. That reported amount is not a separately verified auction record here.
An altered silver-colored cent should not be priced from this range. Establish the original plating failure before using the higher comparisons.
How to Identify
Inspect the boundary between copper and gray metal through a 10× magnifier. Where copper survives, check whether its edge fits an original plating gap rather than later scraping.
View the date, portrait, and Memorial in the exposed areas. Their surface texture should be considered alongside any pitting, residue, or coating.
A precise scale compares the coin with the normal 2.50 g, and calipers compare its diameter with 19.05 mm. A small weight change alone cannot distinguish missing plating from chemical removal.
Do not clean the zinc or cut the edge to test it. Seek a specialist’s examination for a valuable example.
The first useful evidence is original struck texture in genuinely exposed zinc, together with the plating boundary.
9. 2005 Lincoln Penny Front Strike-Through (Estimated Up to $900)
A patch of missing portrait detail can sit beside sharply formed lettering. Material between the blank and stamping tool prevented that part of the design from forming normally.
The Philadelphia report calls the obstruction grease. Missing detail alone does not identify the precise material that blocked the design.
An obstruction can fill small design spaces or cover a broader area. Its effect is local rather than necessarily weakening the whole coin.
Polishing can remove detail from an already struck cent and imitate that blank-looking patch. The transition into surrounding design is therefore more useful than the missing area by itself.
Estimated Value
A small interruption may fit a $15–$50 estimate, while a broad original patch can bring more. The overall working range is $15–$900 for identified examples.
The guide reports $830 for a Philadelphia front strike-through described as MS63, an unworn coin with noticeable marks. It is a reported high comparison, not a price for every weak letter.
A clear boundary and sharp surrounding design help explain the error. Wear or cleaning across that boundary can make the cause harder to judge.
How to Identify
Compare the affected front with a normal 2005 cent at the same enlargement. Find the transition from clear design into the interrupted area.
A 10× magnifier can reveal fine polishing lines, scratches, or pushed-up metal from later work. Look for the original surface continuing through the weak area instead.
Turn the coin over to compare the strength of the Memorial. Widespread weakness on both faces may require a different explanation from a localized obstruction.
Use a scale and calipers against 2.50 g and 19.05 mm. A strike-through need not change either measurement.
Trace one sharp feature directly into the interrupted surface: that boundary gives the quickest useful view of what happened.
10. 2005 Lincoln Penny Mirror-Image Brockage (Estimated Up to $1,200)
Backward letters pressed down into the surface can show that one coin stamped another. A previously struck coin came between the blank and one of the steel stamping tools.
Its raised design acted as a temporary stamp. That contact produced a sunken, mirror-image impression called a brockage.
The year report names a 2005-D example without securely fixing the affected face. A full mirror portrait or full Memorial should not be assumed from the category alone.
Sharp partial impressions can still be recognizable. This differs from faint opposite-design traces transferred after the bare tools touched each other in a clash.
Estimated Value
Recognizable backward detail is central to a brockage’s appeal. Estimate $100–$1,200 for identified examples, with partial or worn impressions usually below sharp, extensive ones.
The guide reports $1,010 for a 2005-D described as MS64, meaning unworn with fairly few marks. The original auction lot is not established here.
Compare how much of the mirrored design remains readable. A vague depression or later pressed-on image should not be given the same value merely because it resembles a portrait.
How to Identify
Read the suspect letters through a 10× magnifier. A genuine brockage impression should reverse their direction and place them below the surface.
Inspect the other face for the normal struck design. Record whichever parts of the date and D remain visible without inventing missing details.
Later pressing between two coins can also produce a reversed image. Examine the surrounding metal for damage and have a specialist assess a potentially valuable piece.
Use a scale and calipers to compare the ordinary cent’s 2.50 g and 19.05 mm. Note any expansion rather than treating every changed outline as a different blank.
Backward, sunken lettering with a coherent mirrored design is the most direct starting point.
11. 2005 Lincoln Penny Flip-Over Double Strike (Estimated Up to $1,500)
A coin that turns over before another strike can end up with portrait and Memorial details on the same face. The second blow overlaps the design that was already there.
The reported Denver example belongs to this category. Its angle, displacement, and surviving letters are not established by the report.
The important relationship is between the two impressions. A tiny extra column from a doubled tool does not show that the whole coin flipped over.
A brockage involves another coin acting as a stamp. The direction and depth of the overlapping details help separate that mechanism from a flip-over strike.
Estimated Value
The guide reports $1,200 for a 2005-D flip-over double strike graded MS66, an unworn coin with few marks. That is a reported comparison rather than an independently matched auction lot.
An estimated $300–$1,500 covers identified examples with readable overlapping impressions. Strong visible evidence of the flip is more important than simply counting extra lines.
A clear date and attractive surfaces support the upper end. Damage that obscures the relationship between the two strikes can reduce collector interest.
How to Identify
Trace a portrait feature and a Memorial feature on the same face through a 10× magnifier. At their crossing, work out which impression flattened part of the earlier design and which details remain raised.
Turn the coin over and look for supporting remnants of the two strikes, keeping their directions separate. A mirror-image depression made by another coin would instead need a brockage explanation and a different comparison.
A scale checks the normal starting weight of 2.50 g, while calipers compare the altered shape with a 19.05-mm cent. The quickest meaningful test is overlapping front and back impressions showing that the same penny turned over before another strike.
12. 2005 Lincoln Penny Two-Denomination Overstrikes (Estimated Up to $30,000)
Two different coin designs can survive on one piece of metal. An already struck coin entered a press set up for another denomination and received another design.
One report describes a 2005 cent design over a dime. The underlying dime’s year is not established, so it should not automatically be called a 2005 dime.
A separate auctioned coin shows the opposite direction of travel for a cent: a 2005 penny received a 2005-P Bison nickel design.
These are struck coins used again, not blank metal intended for another denomination. Surviving details from the first design make that distinction visible.
Estimated Value
The Bison nickel over a 2005 cent sold for $26,400 in September 2025. NGC graded it MS68 Red: unworn, with exceptionally few marks and retained red color.
Use a broad estimated $1,500–$30,000 for these very different identified overstrikes. The Bison result should not be assigned automatically to the separate cent-over-dime report.
Readable designs, original surfaces, and the particular denomination pairing drive the comparison. Each piece needs an individual assessment.
How to Identify
Identify a detail from each denomination before judging the overall appearance. A 10× magnifier can separate cent lettering from the dime or nickel design lying across it.
For the Bison piece, follow surviving penny details beneath the nickel impression. For the cent-over-dime report, look for dime details beneath the cent design without guessing the dime’s date.
A scale should relate to the coin struck first: normally 2.50 g for a modern cent or 2.268 g for a clad dime. Calipers can document expansion beyond that first coin’s original diameter.
Use certification photographs for sealed examples. The most useful first evidence is recognizable design from two denominations in a sequence consistent with one being struck over the other.
Conclusion
An extra bar in LIBERTY and a nickel design over a penny need very different checks. Follow the visible feature before attaching a price to the coin.
The estimated $5–$30,000 span includes inexpensive edge errors and exceptional coins carrying two denominations. Preserve the original surface, compare the correct finish, and distinguish a dealer’s asking price from an actual auction result.