COMMON SENSE AROUND COMMON CENTS

The US government's official phaseout of the penny has prompted a surge of online sales listing rolls of one-cent coins for hundreds or even thousands of dollars — but don't be fooled, an expert says.

Inflated prices popping up on sites like eBay and Etsy are"100%" the result of opportunists exploiting public confusion about the end of the penny, John Feigenbaum, executive director of the Professional Numismatists Guild and CEO of Whitman Publishing, told The Post on Friday.

"Whenever there are stories about coins, scammers come along and take advantage of the headlines," he said.

"On Etsy, it's not unusual to see a penny that's not even worth a dollar being listed for $100,000. People try it on eBay, too. Nobody is policing what people charge."

In recent weeks, full boxes of 2025 Lincoln cents — which cost banks $25 — have been listed online for anywhere between $500 and $1,500. Some collectors have reported paying $20 for a single 50-cent roll.

Feigenbaum says those prices do not reflect the coins' real value.

He dismissed claims that 2025 pennies from Philadelphia, where the last one-cent coins were made last week, carry any special premium.

 

"We're probably looking at a billion coins. In 2024, they made something like 3 billion. People are tying together two different stories to make it sound like these coins are valuable."

Feigenbaum says there is only one 2025 penny product with genuine collector value — the small number of omega-marked coins the US Mint struck to commemorate the end of the denomination.

"Those coins have a special mark. They're valuable. That's everything in this situation," he said.

"Without the omega privy mark, it's a penny. With the omega, it's going to be worth $10,000 or $20,000."

To read the complete article, see:
Business Online vendors selling pennies for $1,500 after final coins are minted: Is it a scam? (https://nypost.com/2025/11/21/business/online-vendors-sell-pennies-for-1500-after-final-coins-are-minted-but-is-it-a-scam/)

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