Beware of Cent Scams

With the U.S. Mint’s discontinuation of the cent, there has been a recent surge in online sales listing rolls of 1-cent coins for hundreds or even thousands of dollars. According to John Feigenbaum, executive director of the Professional Numismatists Guild and CEO of Whitman Publishing, these sales offered on sites like eBay and Etsy are the result of opportunists exploiting public confusion over the end of the cent. “Whenever there are stories about coins, scammers come along and take advantage of the headlines,” Feigenbaum says. “On Etsy, it’s not unusual to see a penny that’s not even worth a dollar being listed for $100,000. People try it on eBay too. Nobody is policing what people charge.”  

The current cent craze mirrors the 1976 bicentennial coin obsession, when many Americans hoarded redesigned quarters and half dollars, believing they would one day become valuable collectibles. Feigenbaum also dismissed claims that 2025 cents from Philadelphia, where the final cents were made last week, have any special premium. The only 2025 cents with genuine collector value are the final omega-marked coins the U.S. Mint struck to commemorate the end of the denomination that will be offered at auction on December 11.