AboutMyCoin1953 Wheat Penny (No Mint Mark) in XF40
A 1953 Wheat penny with no mint mark graded XF40 is that coin in one particular state of preservation — the date and the mint mark are already fixed, and XF40 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 XF40 means
A 1953 Wheat penny with no mint mark in Extremely Fine (XF-40) has light wear on the high points and nowhere else: the individual grains on the wheat ears and the strands of hair above Lincoln’s ear survive except where the cheekbone and the jaw of Lincoln’s portrait and the hair above his ear have just begun to flatten, and traces of mint lustre often remain in the protected areas beside the devices.
A slab, a dealer’s list or a price guide may write this grade XF-40, EF40 or EF-40. They are the same grade and the same 1953 Wheat penny with no mint mark.
Where this grade sits
The grades a 1953 Wheat penny with no mint mark is given run from PO1 to MS70RD. One step up from XF40 is Extremely Fine (XF-45). In general terms, the higher the grade the more the coin is worth.
How to check this yourself
Sold listings, not asking prices. The link below is already filtered to completed sales of a 1953 Wheat penny with no mint mark in XF40, 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 1953 Wheat Penny (No Mint Mark) in XF40 →
Not an appraisal. AboutMyCoin estimates from published specifications and does not authenticate or grade coins.
1953 Wheat Penny (No Mint Mark): every grade, the metal and the specification →