AboutMyCoin1909 Wheat Penny with VDB (No Mint Mark) in MS69RB
A 1909 Wheat penny with the VDB initials graded MS69RB is that coin in one particular state of preservation — the date and the mint mark are already fixed, and MS69RB is what a grader called the surface that survived. What that looks like on this coin is below. Where the grade sits against the rungs either side of it, and every way it is written on a slab, are in the table below.
What MS69RB means
A 1909 Wheat penny with the VDB initials in Mint State (MS-69) Red-Brown is one mark away from perfect, and that mark is visible only under magnification. On a coin struck for circulation this grade is essentially unheard of; where it occurs at all it is on an issue the Mint sold directly, in packaging that never let the coin touch another. Red-brown is the middle designation: somewhere between five and ninety-five per cent of the original mint red survives on a 1909 Wheat penny with the VDB initials graded this way and the rest has gone. It is much the widest of the three bands, and the one where two graders most easily disagree.
A slab, a dealer’s list or a price guide may write this grade MS69 RB, MS-69RB or MS-69 RB. 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 MS69RB is Mint State (MS-70) Red-Brown. 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 MS69RB, 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 MS69RB →
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 →