| The designer for the Lincoln Cent, Victor David | | | | The VDB pennies were made at Philadelphia and |
| Brenner changed everything about the design of | | | | San Francisco. The 1909 S VDB penny is the one |
| Lincoln Cents by placing the image of a real | | | | made at the San Francisco Mint so it carries the |
| person on a coin made for circulation. It was not | | | | S, which is the mint mark for the San Francisco |
| until 1909 that Victor David Brenner created the | | | | mint. Due to the fact that there were so many |
| legendary bust of Abraham Lincoln that is so | | | | less of the S VDB struck, it is most definitely a |
| well-known by all of us today. | | | | rarity. Without fail, collectors have always paid |
| The most significant part of the story all comes | | | | more for the 1909 S VDB than for any other |
| down to the initials on the back of the cent. V.D.B. | | | | Lincoln penny, of course that is except for the |
| are Victor David Brenner's initials, the renowned | | | | 1943 copper cent. The number of coins with the |
| designer of the Lincoln cent. Victor David Brenner | | | | initials made at the S mint was the smallest of all |
| positioned his initials on the reverse of the Lincoln | | | | the 1909 pennies. |
| cent, near the bottom rim on the reverse under | | | | In fact, the 1909-S V.D.B. Penny has long been |
| the wheat stalks on the back side. | | | | considered one of the key dates in the series, |
| By placing his initials near the bottom of the back | | | | filling the dreams of collectors young and old. It is |
| Brenner started quite an uproar. The people by | | | | important to understand that millions of people |
| and large loved the Lincoln cent when it was first | | | | collect Lincoln Head Cents and it makes it obvious |
| released, however some had a problem with | | | | why the 484,000 mintage may seem high, but it |
| prominence of Brenner's initials. They basically | | | | is not. To be clear there are clearly not a |
| thought the initials were too big and noticeable. | | | | sufficient number of 1909-S VDB Pennies to |
| The letters V.D.B. in spite of their small size were | | | | meet all of the collector's demands. |
| noticeable enough to create a hullabaloo with the | | | | The value of a 1909 S VDB cent is around |
| people and Mint officials, who insisted on their | | | | $750-800 in Good, and upwards of 2,500 in |
| removal right away. When this was done later on | | | | Uncirculated grades to nearly $100,000 in PCGS |
| in 1909, it resulted in the making of four varieties: | | | | MS-67 Red. There have been some badly worn, |
| 1909 (with and without V.D.B.) and 1909-S (with | | | | even damaged, 1909 S VDB pennies that can be |
| and without V.D.B.). The 1909-S V.D.B is the | | | | occasionally found on eBay and in numismatic |
| rarest of the four varieties and it debuted on | | | | dealers' catalogs at reasonable prices. Click Here |
| August 2, 2009. | | | | to see the Price Guide for 1909-S VDB Lincoln |
| Altogether there are six different 1909 pennies. | | | | Cents. |
| There are four Lincolns - the 1909 VDB penny | | | | The 1909 S VDB penny is without a doubt one of |
| with no mintmark, struck at the Philadelphia mint, | | | | the most costly regular-strike (non-error) rarities |
| the 1909 S VSB struck at San Francisco mint, in | | | | of modern U.S. coinage. It is also one of those |
| addition coins without the designer initials from | | | | coins that has almost seen always upward |
| each mint. There are as well two Indian Head | | | | movements in values for the last several |
| cents of 1909, one from the Philadelphia mint and | | | | decades. |
| one from the San Francisco mint. | | | | |