AboutMyCoin1909 Wheat Penny with VDB (No Mint Mark) in G4
A 1909 Wheat penny with the VDB initials graded G4 is that coin in one particular state of preservation — the date and the mint mark are already fixed, and G4 is what a grader called the surface that survived. What that looks like on this coin is below. The nearest grade of this date this site does have a researched figure for is Very Good (VG-8), at $9 to $10, from sales and public data.
What G4 means
A 1909 Wheat penny with the VDB initials in Good (G-4) is worn evenly across its whole surface, and the design reads as an outline rather than a relief: the cheekbone and the jaw of Lincoln’s portrait and the hair above his ear are flat, the tips of the wheat ears and the upper edges of their stalks show no detail at all, and LIBERTY behind the shoulder, IN GOD WE TRUST above the head and the date are still readable with the rim beginning to merge into the lettering.
A slab, a dealer’s list or a price guide may write this grade G-4. They are the same grade and the same 1909 Wheat penny with the VDB initials.
Where this grade sits
The grades a 1909 Wheat penny with the VDB initials is given run from PO1 to MS70RD. One step up from G4 is Good (G-6). In general terms, the higher the grade the more the coin is worth.
A blank in the value column is a grade this site has not researched, not a grade the coin is worth nothing in.
How to check this yourself
Sold listings, not asking prices. The link below is already filtered to completed sales of a 1909 Wheat penny with the VDB initials in G4, which is the difference between what somebody paid and what somebody hoped for. Until this site has a researched figure for this grade, that search is the answer — take the middle of several recent sales rather than the highest.
Completed sales of a 1909 Wheat Penny with VDB (No Mint Mark) in G4 →
Where these figures come from
We gather publicly available data from several public sources including eBay, PCGS, NGC, Numista, USA Coin Book, PriceCharting, and others.
Not an appraisal. AboutMyCoin estimates from published specifications and does not authenticate or grade coins.
1909 Wheat Penny with VDB (No Mint Mark): every grade, the metal and the specification →