Rare 2023 Penny Errors (List & Pictures)
An exceptionally preserved Extra V cent sold for $780 in November 2023. Across the seven groups of 2023 penny errors below, estimated values range from $2–$800, with ordinary examples often far below that top sale.
Check the shoulder first, then lettering, surfaces, and the outline. Modern cents have a zinc core under thin copper plating; a normal example weighs 2.50 grams, measures 19.05 mm, and has a smooth edge.
| Inspection area | Possible finding | Estimated value |
|---|---|---|
| Right of VDB | Extra V | $20–$800 |
| Date, letters, shield | Doubled die | $5–$150 |
| Neck or reverse surface | Struck-through impression | $5–$200 |
| Forehead, hair, shield, rim | Die crack, chip, or cud | $2–$400 |
| Copper skin | Defective plated blank | $20–$400 |
| Wide complete outline | Broadstrike | $30–$350 |
| Plain crescent beside design | Off-center strike | $15–$500 |
1. 2023 Penny A Sunken V Beside the Initials: Extra V Error
Find VDB, the designer’s initials at Lincoln’s shoulder, and look immediately to the right of B. The Extra V variety, also called VDBV, has an additional V-shaped feature that sinks into the surface.
This Philadelphia variety normally has no mintmark. A change to a tool used in making dies has been suggested as its origin, but the visible mark alone does not prove the full sequence.
How to Identify
Keep all three normal initials in view while comparing the extra shape with a certified example. Side lighting should reveal a depression, unlike the raised extra outlines expected on many doubled letters.
A V scratched into a finished cent can imitate the idea without matching the variety. Check its placement and shape, along with nearby cuts or pushed-up metal, and include the readable date in your photographs.
What It’s Worth
An identified 2023 Extra V cent has an estimated value of $20–$800. Condition accounts for much of that spread.
A PCGS MS65 Red example sold for $69 in May 2026, while PCGS records an MS68 Red sale of $780 in November 2023. Both were unworn with copper-red color, but MS68 represents much better preservation and should not be treated as typical pocket change.
2. 2023 Penny Split Corners and Repeated Lines: Doubled Designs Error
Small extra outlines can appear on the first two date digits, while other reported examples have thickened strokes or split corners in ERTY of LIBERTY. These are clues to a doubled design in a die, the tool that stamps the coin.
Separate reverse varieties affect UNITED, small designer initials, or the lower ends of shield stripes. They require separate comparisons rather than one combined checklist for every coin.
How to Identify
Use magnification to follow a suspected extra stroke around a letter corner. Compare the correct face and location with the 2023 Shield-cent variety catalog.
Flat shelves from movement during striking and swelling from die wear can resemble doubling. Some ear-area doubling comes from a tool used to make several dies, so that feature alone does not establish a scarce individual variety.
What It’s Worth
Identifiable 2023 doubled designs have an estimated value of $5–$150. Minor patterns fit roughly $5–$30, with clearer examples on attractive coins estimated around $30–$150.
The supplied material does not give a sale for every front or reverse variety. If one coin has doubling on both faces, assess that complete coin once rather than adding two independent full-coin estimates.
3. 2023 Penny An Impression Interrupts the Design: Struck-Through Error
A reported impression near Lincoln’s neck suggests something came between the die and the blank during striking. A separate reverse-side report concerns the same broad process, not necessarily the same coin.
How to Identify
Follow the neck into the affected area and examine how the original detail meets the depression. A later scratch can cut across completed design and push metal along its sides.
A struck-through impression and a die break are different effects even if a listing uses both terms. Do not name the obstructing material from a nickname or a narrow line, and leave any material still attached to the coin in place.
What It’s Worth
A genuine 2023 struck-through cent has an estimated value of $5–$200. Small identifiable impressions fit about $5–$50, with stronger well-defined effects estimated around $50–$200.
A 2021-D cent struck through grease, graded PCGS MS64 Red, sold for $84 in September 2025. That different-year example does not prove that grease caused a particular 2023 neck impression.
4. 2023 Penny Raised Ridges or Patches: Die Cracks, Chips, and Cuds Error
The forehead, eye, hair, shield top, and ribbon are among the areas mentioned in reports of 2023 die damage. A crack in the die can leave a raised line, while a small missing piece can leave a bump called a chip.
A larger missing section connected to the rim produces a cud. An internal forehead bump does not become a cud simply because it is prominent.
How to Identify
Illuminate the feature from the side to distinguish a raised ridge from a cut into the coin. Trace its actual boundary rather than joining unrelated marks into an imagined larger break.
For a suspected cud, check that the patch reaches the rim and replaces design. Blisters in the thin copper plating can also create bumps, so inspect the surrounding coating without pressing or piercing it.
What It’s Worth
Estimated values for these 2023 die defects run from $2–$400. Small cracks and chips generally fit $2–$50, while larger genuine rim breaks may fit $50–$400.
A 2021-D retained cud graded PCGS MS64 Red sold for $186 in September 2025. Its broken die piece remained in place, and the sale of that larger, different-year error is not a price for every tiny 2023 bump.
5. 2023 Penny Faulty Copper Skin: Defective Plated Planchet Error
The plating can already be defective when a prepared blank, or planchet, enters the press. A featured 2023 example graded NGC MS66 Red was described as struck on a defective copper-plated blank.
How to Identify
Study where the design crosses or meets the faulty coating. The key question is whether the defect existed when the design formed, rather than whether gray zinc is visible today.
The Mint Error News example provides a graded reference. Examine both faces and the edge for scraping, corrosion, or chemical roughness that could explain later damage.
A small coating defect may make little difference to weight. Keep loose copper attached, and do not confuse this thin plating with the thicker layers used in a clad dime.
What It’s Worth
A genuine pre-strike plating defect on a 2023 cent has an estimated value of $20–$400. Smaller areas fit approximately $20–$100, with more obvious attractive examples estimated around $100–$400.
No completed sale is supplied for the featured MS66 Red coin. Its grade describes that particular coin’s preservation, not a grade that transfers to any similarly colored surface.
6. 2023 Penny Complete Designs in a Wider Coin: Broadstrike Error
A broadstrike can spread beyond a normal penny’s diameter while retaining the intended design. It forms when the collar, the ring that normally limits outward flow, does not restrain the blank properly.
How to Identify
Follow the outer lettering around both faces before measuring the width in several directions. Complete designs with original outward spread are more useful clues than an uneven rim alone.
Hammering or squeezing a finished penny can also enlarge it, but may crush letters and high points or disturb its plating. The supplied 2023 report establishes neither a fixed enlarged diameter nor a specific mint.
What It’s Worth
A confirmed 2023 broadstrike has an estimated value of $30–$350. Clear expansion and attractive original surfaces support stronger interest.
This is a comparison-based range without a named 2023 transaction. A smooth edge adds no special evidence by itself because it is normal for a cent.
7. 2023 Penny Part of the Blank Never Receives Design: Off-Center Strike Error
A misplaced blank can leave Lincoln and the shield cut off beside an intact plain section of metal. That unstruck area separates an off-center strike from a clip, where metal is missing from the blank itself.
How to Identify
Inspect the complete outline and both faces together, with the 2023 date readable. The displaced designs should agree with the same area of original unstruck metal.
One shifted face with a centered opposite face may point to die misalignment instead. Look for grinding on any supposedly plain area, and do not assign a mint from a mintmark area that was never struck.
What It’s Worth
An identifiable 2023 off-center cent has an estimated value of $15–$500. Modest shifts fit roughly $15–$75, with stronger attractive offsets estimated around $75–$500.
No exact direction, percentage, or named 2023 auction result is established here. A dramatic displacement with an unreadable year may be less useful to a collector assembling a dated set.
Conclusion
The Extra V’s sunken shape is different from raised doubling or a die-crack ridge. Understanding that small distinction makes the shoulder a useful place to begin before examining the rest of a 2023 cent.
Keep close-ups connected to full photographs of both faces, and preserve the thin copper coating. The $780 sale describes exceptional preservation, while the lower graded sale shows why identifying the feature is only part of valuing the coin.
