AboutMyCoin1956-D Wheat Penny in MS66BN
A 1956-D Wheat penny graded MS66BN is that coin in one particular state of preservation — the date and the mint mark are already fixed, and MS66BN 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 MS66BN means
A 1956-D Wheat penny in Mint State (MS-66) Brown sits at or near the top of the certified population for the issue: no wear, exceptional lustre, and virtually no marks anywhere on it. At this level the coin is a condition rarity rather than a date rarity, and the price is set by the few collectors who need one and the few coins that exist. Brown is what copper becomes: the mint red has oxidised away across all but a few per cent of both faces. Nearly every 1956-D Wheat penny that has spent decades outside an airtight holder is brown, and brown is much the cheapest of the three colours.
A slab, a dealer’s list or a price guide may write this grade MS66 BN, MS-66BN or MS-66 BN. They are the same grade and the same 1956-D Wheat penny.
Where this grade sits
The grades a 1956-D Wheat penny is given run from PO1 to MS70RD. One step up from MS66BN is Mint State (MS-67) Brown. 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 1956-D Wheat penny in MS66BN, 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.
Not an appraisal. AboutMyCoin estimates from published specifications and does not authenticate or grade coins.
1956-D Wheat Penny: every grade, the metal and the specification →