US Coins

Market Analysis: Lincoln cents among stars at Legend auction

The finest-graded 1923-S Lincoln cent, housed in a PCGS MS-65+ red holder, brought $58,750 at Legend’s Regency 40 auction in Las Vegas.

Images courtesy of Legend Rare Coin Auctions

A group of high-grade Lincoln, Wheat cents performed nicely at Legend Rare Coin Auctions’ Aug. 27 Regency Auction 40 in Las Vegas, held in conjunction with the Professional Coin Grading Service Member’s Only Show.

The top cent — and the third most-expensive coin — in the auction was a 1923-S Lincoln cent graded PCGS Mint State 65+ red that is the sole example in this grade at the service, with none finer.

Legend praised the bold strike and satiny, lustrous Mint red color on both sides while noting that, even with red color designations, examples of this issue typically “don’t come with a fiery red color; it is usually more subdued as seen here.” It sold for $58,750, a drop from the $67,563 it realized when offered by Legend in September 2019, but more than the $45,600 that another representative graded PCGS MS-65 red with a green Certified Acceptance Corp. sticker sold for in April at Heritage. That cent had sold for $66,000 at Heritage’s June 2018 Long Beach auction, setting a record for the issue.

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