If you are an experienced coin collector or if you just found some pennies from 1988 and need to learn more about them, welcome, you are at the right place!
Keep on reading to find out everything you need to know about the 1988 penny value, varieties, grading, and more.
1988 Penny Value Details
- Category – Lincoln cent
- Mint – Philadelphia, Denver, San Francisco
- Mintage – 11 349 813 391
- Obverse designer – Victor David Brenner
- Reverse designer – Frank Gasparro
- Composition – copper and zinc
- Weight – 2.5 g (0.08 oz.)
- Diameter – 19 mm (0.74 in)
- Thickness – 1.5 mm (0.05 in)
A penny from 1988 is made of copper and zinc. It weighs two and a half grams and is 19 millimeters in diameter.
A 1988 Lincoln cent was minted in Philadelphia, Denver, and San Francisco. The US Mint produced more than eleven billion of these coins, so just by the numbers you can assume that it is not rare at all.
Since the rarity determines a coin’s value, a 1988 penny is pretty cheap and invaluable in most cases. Let’s look at the average prices that you can sell or buy these pennies at, based on which mint they were produced in.
Also Read: Top 20 Most Valuable Old Pennies Worth Money (Penny Collection)
1988 Penny Value Chart
As you can see on the chart, you shouldn’t expect to get rich if you are looking to sell your 1988 pennies. On the other hand, if you want to add these to your collection, you will not have to spend a lot of money.
The average price for a 1988 penny is only one cent if they are in poor to average condition. Its price can go up in case it is in uncirculated or mint condition, but even then it is worth up to around $10.
The prices are a bit different for the 1988 pennies made in San Francisco so if you have one that is graded 65 and more, you can expect it to be worth approximately thirty dollars.
| Condition | 1988 No Mint Mark Penny Value | 1988 D Mint Mark Penny Value | 1988 S Mint Mark Penny Value |
| Poor | $0.01 | $0.01 | $0.01 |
| Fair | $0.01 | $0.01 | $0.01 |
| About good | $0.01 | $0.01 | $0.01 |
| Good | $0.01 | $0.01 | $0.01 – $0.50 |
| Fine | $0.01 | $0.01 | $0.50 – $1 |
| Very fine | $0.01 – $0.05 | $0.01 – $0.05 | $1 – $5 |
| Extremely fine | $0.05 – $0.10 | $0.05 – $0.10 | $5 – $10 |
| About Uncirculated | $0.10 – $0.50 | $0.10 – $0.50 | $10 – $15 |
| Mint state (60-64) | $0.50 – $1 | $0.50 – $1 | $15 – $20 |
| Mint state (65-67) | $1 – $10 | $1 – $10 | $20 – $30 |
| Mint state (68-70) | $10 + | $10 + | $30 + |
1988 Penny Value & Varieties Guide
Since the 1988 penny was minted in three locations, there are three types of this coin. These are the ones with no mint mark (produced in Philadelphia), D mint mark (made in Denver), and S mint mark (minted in San Francisco).
Let’s learn more about these types of penny from 1988 and how the mint marks affect their price and value.
1988 No Mint Mark Penny Value
This is the most common variety of a 1988 penny as the Philadelphia mint made the most of the cents this year, compared to the other two mints. There were a total of more than six billion pennies produced in Philadelphia, so they are very common and easily accessible.
The price of 1988 no mint mark penny ranges from only one cent to ten dollars and more for the best-preserved specimens.
While this may not seem like a large number, the 1988 penny’s face value is only a cent, so if you can sell it for $10 you are getting a thousand times more than what it was originally worth!
- Type – Lincoln Memorial cent
- Edge – plain
- Mint mark – no mint mark
- Place of minting – Philadelphia
- Year of minting – 1988
- Face value – 1 cent
- Price – $0.01 – $10 +
- Quantity produced – 6 092 810 000
- Designer – Victor David Brenner and Frank Gasparro
- Composition – copper and zinc
- Mass – 2.5 grams (0.08 ounces)
- Diameter – 19 millimeters (0.74 inches)
1988 D Mint Mark Penny Value
A 1988 penny made in Denver differs from the one made in Philadelphia only by the mint mark D. It is located on the obverse side of a coin.
The prices between these two varieties are quite similar. You can find a 1988-D penny for only one cent but the price increases with the quality of the coin.
- Type – Lincoln Memorial cent
- Edge – plain
- Mint mark – D mint mark
- Place of minting – Denver
- Year of minting – 1988
- Face value – 1 cent
- Price – $0.01 – $10 +
- Quantity produced – 5 253 740 443
- Designer – Victor David Brenner and Frank Gasparro
- Composition – copper and zinc
- Mass – 2.5 grams (0.08 ounces)
- Diameter – 19 millimeters (0.74 inches)
1988 S Mint Mark Penny Value
The San Francisco mint made proof pennies in 1988. There were over three million of them produced, and although this number is significantly lower than of the other two locations, 1988-S pennies are common as well.
The typical price is also just the coin’s face value, but it can go as high as thirty dollars if the penny is in perfect condition.
- Type – Lincoln Memorial cent
- Edge – plain
- Mint mark – S mint mark
- Place of minting – San Francisco
- Year of minting – 1988
- Face value – 1 cent
- Price – $0.01 – $30 +
- Quantity produced – 3 262 948
- Designer – Victor David Brenner and Frank Gasparro
- Composition – copper and zinc
- Mass – 2.5 grams (0.08 ounces)
- Diameter – 19 millimeters (0.74 inches)
1988 Penny History
The first penny ever made featured a woman on the obverse that was supposed to symbolize liberty. This was towards the end of the eighteenth century when the US Mint opened. Back then, a penny was much larger and made out of copper.
It wasn’t until the mid-nineteenth century that the US Mint decided to change the penny’s design. For two years, the obverse was engraved with a flying eagle until it was replaced by the popular Indian Head design that ran for fifty years.
In 1909 it was ex-president Abraham Lincoln’s 100th birthday anniversary, which is why the US Mint honored him with the new coin program. This coin featured a portrait of the ex-president on the obverse and wheat branches on the back.
While the obverse still uses the original design, the reverse of this penny depicted Lincoln’s memorial in 1988 as a way to commemorate the 150th birthday anniversary of the ex-president.
1988 Penny Appearance
A 1988 penny depicts Abraham Lincoln on the center of the front side of the coin. Above him is the motto of the country, IN GOD WE TRUST, below it is the year 1988, and to its left side is written LIBERTY.
If a penny has a mint mark, you can find it engraved just below the year.
The back of a 1988 penny depicts the Lincoln Memorial, built in Washington D.C. at the beginning of the twentieth century. Above this picture is a famous US motto – ET PLURIBUS UNUM, and above it is the name of the country – UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
ONE CENT is written at the bottom of the penny.
A 1988 penny’s design was the work of two sculptors – Victor David Brenner and Frank Gasparro. They designed the obverse and the reverse of the coin, respectively.
1988 Penny Grading
Grading of a 1988 penny is done on a 70-point scale based on the overall appearance and quality of the coin. The higher the grade your coin gets the more valuable it is.
It is important to notice that you should always have your coins examined by a person or a service experienced in doing this. If you are a beginner and don’t know what to look for, you can miss out on details that can increase the value of your coin by a lot.
1988 Penny List of Errors
Coins’ worth is based on their rarity, so when there are billions of coins produced, like in the case of a 1988 penny, they are barely worth their face value.
However, what can make a coin rare are the errors that can occur while the coin is in minting production. Since the mints don’t like putting in circulation coins with mistakes and they do everything they can to avoid this, it’s difficult to find errored coins.
If you do find them, you may be extremely lucky, because the collectors love them! Let’s see what are some factory errors that you should look out for when it comes to a 1988 penny.
1. 1988 Penny Die Crack
A die crack error happens when the dies that are used to strike the planchets to engrave a design are damaged or worn out. This causes cracks in the dies which are then transferred to the planchets as well, leaving raised parts of the coin behind.
There are a lot of known 1988 pennies with this error. The exact price that these coins can reach depends on the other possible mistakes on the coin as well as its overall condition, but it is certainly more than what the value would be without this error.
2. 1988 Penny Double Die
During the minting process, the dies may strike more than once, leaving a doubled design on a coin. This doubled image can appear on the whole coin or just parts of it, but it can be difficult to notice just by glancing at a penny.
Carefully inspect every part of your 1988 penny to see if this error exists. If it does and your coin is graded well, you can get several times more money than you would for a regular coin.
3. 1988 Penny Off-Center
When a planchet is not aligned well with the dies, a coin can end up having an off-center error. This can be barely visible or very obvious, depending on how severe the mistake is. You will know that your 1988 penny has this mistake if it has parts that are flat and not engraved.
1988 Penny FAQ
How much is a 1988 penny worth?
A 1988 penny is usually worth only one cent. This is because the US Mint made billions of these coins so they are very easy to find and there are still a lot of them on the market.
However, if a 1988 penny is graded close to 70, it will be much more valuable, reaching the price of tens of dollars. On top of this, if a coin has a rare error, it can be worth hundreds of dollars.
This all depends on the specific coin and the condition, so it’s difficult to estimate the value without having a coin graded first.
Is there a 1988 error penny?
Yes, there are several errors that you may find on a 1988 penny. Some of them are die cracks, double dies, and off-center errors.
Keep in mind that it can be difficult to notice some of the factory mistakes if you are not an experienced coin grader. If you don’t grade your penny professionally, you may have a valuable piece of the US numismatic history in your property and not even know it!
Is the 1988-D penny rare?
No, a 1988 penny produced in the Denver mint with the D mint mark is not rare. In fact, almost none of the pennies from 1988 are rare as there were over 11 billion of them made back then.
What can make your 1988 penny rare are some of the errors that can occur during the minting process or the condition of your coin. The errors can raise the price of your coin by hundreds of dollars.
It can be difficult to find a 1988 penny that looks like it just got out of a factory since these have been in circulation for more than thirty years. If you have one that is in perfect condition, it will most likely be considered rare.