Rare 1972 Lincoln penny sells for $250 online – how to spot it in your spare change

ABRAHAM Lincoln's face has been on the penny since 1909.

The US has minted hundreds of millions of coins featuring the 16th president, and some of those coins were produced with errors.

Certain error coins are tremendously valuable to collectors, and even pennies can sell for hundreds or thousands of dollars.

For example, a 1972 Lincoln cent with a doubled die error was recently sold on eBay for $249.50.

This type of error coin is called a doubled die because the metal pieces that imprint images on blank coins are called dies.

Due to an issue in the minting process, this coin was struck with a face side die twice in slightly different positions.

The 1972 Lincoln doubled die penny

The coin shows obvious signs of doubling on the face, or obverse side, but the reverse contains no errors.

While President Lincoln's head looks normal, the words and numbers around him appear distorted.

The doubling is most obvious on this recently sold coin around "In God We Trust," although the mint year and "Liberty" are clearly doubled as well.

These coins are popular among collectors, but relatively scarce, and their exact value can be hard to pin down.

One 1972 Lincoln penny with this error in mint condition sold for $14,400 at auction, according to the Professional Coin Grading Service.

Most returns are most modest - the PCGS also recorded 1972 pennies auctioned for as low as $45 and $77.

This particular coin was initially listed for $100 and received 16 bids before ultimately selling for $249.50.

How to find rare coins

Your unique pennies aren’t the only thing that might hold value, as nickels, dimes, half dollars, and others could be worth serious cash. 

And there are many ways you can find rare coins.

The first thing you’ll want to do is check places in your home or any places you might store change.

You can also try using a metal detector in known areas for buried treasure by stopping by your local bank and asking for a roll of coins.

To check if your coins are worth anything on eBay, search the full name, select the "sold" listing and then toggle the search to "highest value”.

This way, you'll get a sense of what collectors are willing to pay for your coins.

You can either choose to sell the coin on eBay or through a specialist site such as Coinappraiser or USA Coin Book.

And also - be aware of potential fakes when buying online.

To avoid this, it's worth checking the seller’s history and whether or not the coin was certified in the listing.

For more on Lincoln pennies, we explained the 1944 steel piece and what makes it worth $1.1million.

And we’ve also explained the value of the 1969 Lincoln penny.