2023 Penny Error List with Pictures
Look just to the right of VDB on Lincoln’s shoulder. A small sunken V identifies the best-known variety in this 2023 penny error list, and an exceptionally preserved example sold for $780 in November 2023.
More recent sales show that ordinary collectible examples can cost much less. Other errors involve doubled letters, damaged copper coating, and misplaced designs.
Estimated values below run from $2–$800. Read on for seven groups of errors and the simple checks that separate them.
1. 2023 Lincoln Penny Doubled Designs (Estimated Up to $150)
The first two digits of the date can carry light extra outlines. Other Philadelphia examples show thickened strokes and small splits at the corners of ERTY in LIBERTY.
These patterns come from a doubled die, the steel tool that stamps coins. The repeated detail exists before the coin receives its design.
Separate back-side varieties affect UNITED, the small designer initials, or the lower ends of shield stripes. Their details should not be combined into one imaginary pattern.
Some doubling near the ear comes from a tool used to make multiple dies. It does not automatically identify a scarce individual variety.
Estimated Value
Use an estimated $5–$30 for minor, identifiable patterns and $30–$150 for clearer examples on attractive coins. The range compares modest Shield-cent varieties rather than rare classic doubled dies.
A tiny split letter corner may interest a specialist without making the whole coin valuable. Sharp original detail helps the pattern remain visible.
No 2023 auction price is assigned to every front and back variety. If both faces show doubling, price the complete coin once instead of adding two full estimates.
How to Identify
Choose a clear photograph of the whole coin before inspecting a letter. These Philadelphia examples normally have no mintmark.
Use a 10× magnifier at the 20 and ERTY, then compare the back separately. The 2023 variety catalog shows different patterns for letters and shield stripes.
Look for a split corner or an extra outline that matches the same location. Flat shelves, reflections, and general swelling from tool wear can imitate thickened detail.
An accessible coin can be checked with a scale against 2.50 grams and calipers against 19.05 mm. Its edge is smooth.
Match the specific extra stroke on the correct face, rather than expecting every listed feature on one coin.
2. 2023 Lincoln Penny Struck-Through Error (Estimated Up to $200)
A depression near Lincoln’s neck can form when something blocks the stamping tool. The foreign material leaves an impression while the normal design is being made.
This is called a struck-through error. The reported Philadelphia examples include marks at the neck, while a separate back-side report needs its own comparison.
A listing that uses both die break and struck-through does not make those terms interchangeable. A broken tool generally adds raised metal; an obstruction can interrupt or depress the design.
A nickname cannot identify the material. First rule out a later scratch through the neck.
Estimated Value
For small identifiable impressions, estimate $5–$50. Stronger examples with clear boundaries and attractive surrounding design can fit approximately $50–$200.
A 2021-D Shield cent struck through grease sold for $84 in September 2025, graded PCGS MS64 Red. That means unworn with some marks and original copper-red color.
The different-year sale provides context for the mechanism. It does not price a specific 2023 neck mark or prove that grease caused an impression shaped by another object.
How to Identify
Follow the neck into the affected area with a 10× magnifier. Notice where original detail stops and whether any surface texture continues across the impression.
A later cut can slice through completed design and push metal along its edges. Compare that possibility with an obstruction present when the portrait was formed.
Photograph the back as well as the front, without assuming both reported marks belong to the same specimen. Leave any retained material untouched.
Check an accessible penny with a scale and calipers against 2.50 grams and 19.05 mm. The normal edge is smooth.
The useful starting point is an original impression interrupting the design, rather than a freshly cut line through Lincoln’s neck.
3. 2023 Lincoln Penny Broadstrike (Estimated Up to $350)
Extra width around a complete design can point to a broadstrike. The metal spread because the collar, a ring around the blank, did not restrain it normally.
The ring usually controls the coin’s final width. Without that support, the outline can become larger or uneven while the main designs remain on the metal.
The 2023 year report lists this type without one fixed diameter or mint. The actual coin must provide those details.
An ordinary penny already has a smooth edge. Smoothness alone is therefore not the clue; look at the expanded shape and the condition of the designs together.
Estimated Value
For genuine broadstrikes, estimate $30–$350 across modest expansion and stronger, attractive examples. This is a comparison range for modern Lincoln striking errors.
A complete design surrounded by a clear oversized border makes an easier display than a barely uneven rim. Wear and later surface damage can reduce collector interest.
The estimate is not a recorded sale of one particular 2023 coin. A penny flattened by hammering should not receive the same price merely because its diameter increased.
How to Identify
Check the outer words on both sides before reaching for calipers. They should remain on the coin rather than disappearing beyond a misplaced blank.
Measure several spans against the usual 19.05 mm. A scale should remain near 2.50 grams if the original metal is intact.
With a 10× magnifier, inspect high points and letters for flattening. Later squeezing can widen the penny while crushing design that was already finished.
Examine the smooth edge and thin copper coating for impact marks. Keep a sealed example in its holder and consult its recorded measurements.
Complete designs inside a naturally expanded outline provide the most useful combination for identifying this type.
4. 2023 Lincoln Penny Die Cracks, Chips, and Cuds (Estimated Up to $400)
Thin raised lines across the forehead or above the shield can record cracks in a stamping tool. Metal enters the opening and leaves a ridge on the coin.
A small broken piece can produce a bump instead. Cataloged Philadelphia examples include marks around the eye, hair, shield top, and ribbon area.
A larger break joined to the rim is called a cud. An internal forehead bump is not a cud just because it looks prominent.
The marks belong to separate examples. Follow each boundary independently, watching for bubbles in the copper coating that can imitate tool defects.
Estimated Value
For minor cracks and chips, estimate $2–$50. Larger genuine rim-connected breaks can fit approximately $50–$400.
A 2021-D retained cud sold for $186 in September 2025, graded PCGS MS64 Red (unworn, copper-red, with some marks). The broken piece stayed in the tool.
That larger break is not a price for every tiny bump. Assess the whole coin’s size, surviving design, and condition.
How to Identify
Let light skim across the forehead and shield through a 10× magnifier. A tool crack should stand above the surface, while a scratch cuts inward.
Follow a ridge across nearby detail before deciding whether several lines connect. Do not join unrelated marks merely because they point in similar directions.
For a larger patch, check whether it reaches the rim and replaces normal design. Inspect its border for added material or disturbed plating.
A normal penny is 2.50 grams and 19.05 mm with a smooth edge. Use a scale and calipers where accessible.
A continuous raised ridge, or a genuine break connected to the rim, is more useful than the size of an isolated bump.
5. 2023 Lincoln Penny Struck on a Defective Copper-Plated Blank (Estimated Up to $400)
The copper skin on a penny can be defective before the design is added. A 2023 example featured in Mint Error News was struck on just such a blank.
NGC graded it MS66 Red, describing a well-preserved unworn coin with copper-red color. The report places the plating defect before the strike.
That timing matters because acid, corrosion, or scraping can damage the coating later. The coin began as a zinc disc covered with thin copper.
It differs from a modern dime’s thick layered construction. Examine how the design meets the faulty coating rather than judging the error from color alone.
Estimated Value
For genuine pre-strike coating defects, use an estimated $20–$100 range for smaller affected areas. More obvious, attractive examples can fit approximately $100–$400.
These estimates compare original plating errors on modern zinc cents. No completed sale amount is assigned to the featured 2023 MS66 Red coin.
The amount of affected surface and its appearance after striking influence appeal. A corroded or chemically stripped penny does not become equivalent simply because gray zinc is visible beneath its copper coating.
How to Identify
Compare the affected coating with the design crossing or meeting it. A 10× magnifier helps show whether the surface was already defective when the coin was struck.
The featured 2023 example provides a graded comparison. Do not assign its grade to another coin based on color.
Inspect both faces and the smooth edge for scraping, pitting, or chemical roughness. Leave loose copper attached instead of pulling it away.
Check an accessible coin with a scale and calipers against 2.50 grams and 19.05 mm. A small coating defect may barely affect weight.
The useful clue is original design formed across a defective coating, supported by the surface and grading record.
6. 2023 Lincoln Penny Off-Center Strike (Estimated Up to $500)
Lincoln and the shield may both end abruptly beside a plain section of metal. The blank was misplaced between the tools, so only part of it received the design.
An off-center strike keeps that unstamped metal attached. A clip instead begins with part of the blank missing.
The 2023 category does not establish one exact direction or percentage for all examples. Keep the visible date and surviving mintmark tied to the particular coin.
If only one design shifts while the opposite face remains centered, a misplaced tool is another explanation. Both faces are needed to separate these effects.
Estimated Value
For smaller readable-date shifts, estimate $15–$75. Stronger, attractive examples can fit approximately $75–$500, using comparable modern Lincoln striking errors.
The date needs to remain useful for identification. A dramatic offset with no readable year may be less appealing to someone assembling a dated set.
These ranges are estimates rather than a named 2023 auction result. Surface damage, lost design, and the balance between blank and struck areas all affect a particular coin’s value.
How to Identify
Find the complete date before judging the amount of offset. Photograph both faces with the entire outline visible, including the plain crescent.
A 10× magnifier can reveal whether the supposedly empty surface was ground down later. Inspect where sharp struck detail meets the unstamped metal.
Use a scale against the standard 2.50 grams and calipers against a normal 19.05-mm cent. The shape can change during striking even though metal was not removed.
Check the smooth edge for fresh cutting or squeezing. An absent mintmark area cannot identify the mint by itself.
The quickest useful check is an intact plain area adjoining incomplete designs on both faces of the same dated coin.
7. 2023 Lincoln Penny Extra V (Estimated Up to $800)
A second V appears to the right of VDB, the portrait designer’s initials at Lincoln’s shoulder. This is the Extra V variety, also called VDBV.
The extra feature is sunken into the surface rather than an ordinary raised doubled letter. It is reported on Philadelphia coins, which normally have no mintmark in 2023.
A change to a tool used in making the dies has been suggested as its origin. The shape does not by itself prove every step in that process.
Match the exact shape and position. A V scratched into a finished penny is not this variety.
Estimated Value
A PCGS MS65 Red Extra V sold for $69 in May 2026. That grade means unworn with relatively few marks and original copper-red color.
Estimate $20–$800 from clearly identified collectible examples through exceptionally preserved pieces. PCGS records $780 for an MS68 Red in November 2023.
The higher grade has very few flaws and is not typical of pocket change. Those different results show why the added V alone does not guarantee the top price.
How to Identify
Locate VDB before looking for the extra letter. Use a 10× magnifier immediately to the right of B, keeping all three normal initials visible.
Light from the side helps show the extra V sinking into the metal. Do not expect the raised outline used to identify an ordinary doubled letter.
Compare the shape with a certified example and inspect for fresh cuts, pushed-up metal, or scratches around it. Keep the readable 2023 date in the photograph set.
A scale and calipers can check the normal 2.50 grams and 19.05 mm where accessible. The edge should be smooth.
A correctly placed sunken V beside intact VDB is the first meaningful match, followed by checking that it was not carved later.
Conclusion
The Extra V is a sunken feature beside VDB, while doubled letters and tool cracks leave different shapes. A close-up is useful only when it stays tied to the full coin’s date and design.
Estimated values span $2–$800. Compare the actual feature and condition, keep the copper coating intact, and use the high-grade Extra V sale as a special example rather than a typical price.