Coin reference › Top 20 cents: available reference selection
Top 20 cents: available reference selection
A shorter list than the Top 100, kept to the cents that a reference collection would actually include - the ones where a photograph settles something rather than merely illustrating it.
What to look for
The classic keys, the transitional metal years, and the varieties with published markers.
| Coin | Year | Mintage | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1793 P | large-cents-liberty-cap | 1793 | 11,056 | Date / mint / design issue |
| 1793 P AMERI in Legend | large-cents-flowing-hair | 1793 | N/A | Date / mint / design issue |
| 1793 P AMERICA With Periods | large-cents-flowing-hair | 1793 | N/A | Date / mint / design issue |
| 1793 P AMERICA Without Periods | large-cents-flowing-hair | 1793 | N/A | Date / mint / design issue |
| 1793 P Lettered Edge | large-cents-flowing-hair | 1793 | N/A | Date / mint / design issue |
| 1793 P Vines and Bars Edge | large-cents-flowing-hair | 1793 | N/A | Date / mint / design issue |
| 1794 P Starred Reverse | large-cents-liberty-cap | 1794 | N/A | Date / mint / design issue |
| 1795 P Jefferson Head - Lettered Edge | large-cents-liberty-cap | 1795 | 3 | Date / mint / design issue |
| 1795 P Jefferson Head - Plain Edge | large-cents-liberty-cap | 1795 | N/A | Date / mint / design issue |
| 1799 P 9 Over 8 | large-cents-draped-bust | 1799 | N/A | Error / die variety |
| 1799 P Normal Date | large-cents-draped-bust | 1799 | 42,540 | Date / mint / design issue |
| 1803 P Large Date - Small Fraction | large-cents-draped-bust | 1803 | N/A | Date / mint / design issue |
| 1807 P Small 1807 - 7 Over 6 - Blunt 1 | large-cents-draped-bust | 1807 | N/A | Error / die variety |
| 1943 D Bronze/Copper | Lincoln Wheat cent | 1943 | N/A | Error / die variety |
| 1943 P Bronze/Copper | Lincoln Wheat cent | 1943 | N/A | Error / die variety |
| 1943 S Bronze/Copper | Lincoln Wheat cent | 1943 | N/A | Error / die variety |
| 1944 D Steel Cent | Lincoln Wheat cent | 1944 | N/A | Error / die variety |
| 1944 P Steel Cent | Lincoln Wheat cent | 1944 | N/A | Error / die variety |
| 1944 S Steel Cent | Lincoln Wheat cent | 1944 | N/A | Error / die variety |
| 1958 P Doubled-Die Obverse | Lincoln Wheat cent | 1958 | N/A | Die variety: doubling |
Photographing these
Consistency matters more than brilliance. The same light, the same distance and the same settings across a set is what makes two coins comparable.
The difficulty
The problem with building a reference set is consistency. Twenty coins photographed under twenty slightly different setups cannot be compared with each other, and a reference collection whose images are not comparable is a photograph album rather than a reference.
Every photograph NumismaLab takes stores the settings that produced it, and any coin can be put back on the bench under exactly the light it was shot under. That is what makes a set of twenty a reference rather than twenty pictures.
Every tool, what it measures, and a plain statement of what it will NOT do - including the ones that refuse rather than guess.
See what the bench measuresMore lists
Compiled 2026-09-15. Mintages and designations are matters of record; which coins are worth a second look is an editorial judgement, and this page says so rather than pretending otherwise.
