AboutMyCoin1938-S Wheat Penny in VF20
A 1938-S Wheat penny graded VF20 is that coin in one particular state of preservation — the date and the mint mark are already fixed, and VF20 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 About Uncirculated (AU-50), at $4 to $15, from sales and public data.
What VF20 means
A 1938-S Wheat penny in Very Fine (VF-20) shows clear detail across the whole design with wear on the raised areas alone: the cheekbone and the jaw of Lincoln’s portrait and the hair above his ear are flattened but still separated from one another, the tips of the wheat ears and the upper edges of their stalks keep most of their major detail, and LIBERTY behind the shoulder, IN GOD WE TRUST above the head and the date are sharp.
A slab, a dealer’s list or a price guide may write this grade VF-20. They are the same grade and the same 1938-S Wheat penny.
Where this grade sits
The grades a 1938-S Wheat penny is given run from PO1 to MS70RD. One step up from VF20 is Very Fine (VF-25). 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 1938-S Wheat penny in VF20, 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.
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.
1938-S Wheat Penny: every grade, the metal and the specification →