Do you own an old penny worth as much as a million dollars? Experts say it's highly unlikely

Coins are a fundamental part of our daily lives, yet few stop to consider the potential value of the coins in their pocket or the stories they might tell.

One tale circulating the web claims that an old penny could be worth as much as a million dollars. While the possibility exists, it's about as likely as winning the lottery, according to one expert.

You may have seen one of many headlines blasted online lately about valuable pennies in circulation, "Lincoln Wheat Penny Worth $124M You Could Have at Home" reads one, but the reality is most pennies are worth one cent or possibly a bit more.

Reality does not meet the hype, according to Donn Pearlman, spokesman for the Professional Numismatists Guild (PNG), a nonprofit organization composed of many of the nation's rare coin experts.

"There are million-dollar pennies, but there are no $100 million pennies," Pearlman said. "Only a few Lincoln cents dated 1909 to 1959 with the wheat stalks design on the back ('wheat pennies') have sold for $1 million or more."

The most valuable U.S. coin ever, a $20 gold piece, a 1933 "Double Eagle" coin, sold for $18.9 million at auction in 2021. The most valuable pennies, which are rare but still possibly in circulation, are 1943 copper Lincoln wheat pennies, a few of which were produced accidentally as the U.S. mints were supposed to use zinc to save copper for the World War II effort, said John Feigenbaum, publisher of rare coin price guide Greysheet.

In rare cases, some 1943 pennies have sold for $1 million, while one went for more than $200,000 at an auction in 2019.

Depending on their condition, those 1943 Lincoln wheat pennies would be worth at most between $100,000 and $250,000, Feigenbaum said.

But the likelihood of having a near-priceless penny is similar to "saying your lottery ticket might be worth $100,000. Of course, anything is possible, right? But not likely," Feigenbaum said.

What are wheat pennies worth?

So-called "wheat pennies" get their name from the back of the coin having stalks of wheat encircling the "One Cent" text. They were produced from 1909 to 1958. In 1959, the wheat stalks were shorn and pennies began displaying an engraving of the Lincoln Memorial.

Most Lincoln wheat pennies are not super-valuable and are worth just a few cents more than one cent. However, some may escalate into the hundreds of dollars, depending on the condition and when minted. Certain vintages, especially with minting errors, may be worth thousands. You can see the NGC price guide here.

But headlines about super-valuable "Lincoln wheat pennies" stretch the imagination. Most likely, the headlines are created by artificial intelligence to drive traffic to a website, Feigenbaum said.

"These coins are improbably in people's change," Feigenbaum said.

Still, all the online-stirred interest has resulted in "coin shops being inundated with these folks who believe they have something rare, but they don't," according to Feigenbaum.

Increased interest in coins has led to overvalued coins being sold on eBay and Etsy, plus there are counterfeit Lincoln wheat pennies made in China being hawked.

"If I've seen these coins ... somebody is every now and again being taken advantage of," Feigenbaum said.

What should I do if I have some pennies or other coins I think are valuable?

Even though the most valuable coins are usually in collections and have very publicly been "sold and resold," Feigenbaum said, sometimes people may inherit a cache of well-preserved coins or purchase some at an estate sale.

Coins are a fundamental part of our daily lives, yet few stop to consider the potential value of the coins in their pocket or the stories they might tell.