A 1919 cent sells for US$298,125

El Diario NY (Raúl Rodríguez Cota, 2 September 2026) reports that a 1919 Lincoln cent sold for US$298,125 at GreatCollections. It is not a minting error or a scarce date: the firm, the note says (citing AL.com), called it a trophy-condition rarity with “extraordinary eye appeal.” Bidding closed on Sunday, and it was the day’s highest lot.

392 million and the red color

About 392 million of these cents with Abraham Lincoln’s portrait were struck in 1919. Usual specs: 95% copper (the rest tin and zinc), 3.11 g, and 19 mm. What sets this piece apart, GreatCollections says, is that at 107 years it still looks close to mint: “deep, intense red color, brilliant cartwheel luster, and glowing orange-copper tones on both sides.”

On early Lincoln wheat cents, original red (full red) can matter as much as the date. An ordinary 1919, even a nice one, does not approach six figures; this hammer is for an extreme-grade survivor, not for “any 1919 cent.”

The 1913 proof $20

The session’s second price was a 1913 $20 gold coin — walking Liberty on the obverse, a flying eagle and IN GOD WE TRUST on the reverse — of which, the note says, only 20 to 25 examples are known. US$192,937.50. GreatCollections presents it as a survivor of a gold proof issue: 33 g, 34 mm, 90% gold / 10% copper, with a satin-matte texture.

More detail in El Diario NY (opens in a new tab).