CoinTalk Forum Members Gave Opinions on Whether to Keep a 1979-D Cent
On the CoinTalk forum, a member asked whether a 1979-D one-cent coin was worth keeping. Several members described the doubling as machine doubling, and one called it worthless doubling. Others suggested keeping it because it is copper and shows a lot of red color, but these are forum members' opinions, not a professional examination.
Correction (Oct 13, 2026): We shortened and rewrote the headline, summary and body to match the source, a CoinTalk forum thread. We removed unsupported material (a framing of the thread as a debate over authenticity, a claimed agreement that the photos were inconclusive, a calculation that the buy price was three times face value, quotations attributed to members that do not appear in the thread, and a closing generalization about what makes a coin valuable), and made clear that the content consists of forum members' claims and opinions and that the source gives no date for the posts. The previous headline was "Identifying Doubling on a 1979-D Cent and Its."
This article is based only on posts in a CoinTalk forum thread titled "1979D one cent???" The source does not give the date of the posts. What follows are the claims and opinions of forum members, not a professional examination of the coin.
The question
The original poster, Hazmatt, asked whether a 1979-D one-cent coin was "a keeper or a throw back."
Opinions on the doubling
One member, paddyman98, wrote: "Flat and shelflike = Worthless doubling."
Mr. Numismatist wrote that "LIBERTY has some more pronounced machine doubling" (MD). The same member added that the mintmark might be an RPM (a repunched mintmark), but that the picture did not allow a sure answer. RockyB wrote that it "kind of looks like a dd, but probably md."
What the poster said
The poster wrote that the coin is an RPM and still red, and that the R, U and S in TRUST show some doubling. The poster said the phone camera was not good enough to photograph it well.
Spark1951 encouraged the poster to upgrade and wrote that a 3 megapixel USB microscope is not expensive. Spark1951 said they use a Celestron Pro, which cost around $100 seven years ago.
Opinions in favor of keeping it
Collecting Nut wrote that the only reason to keep the coin is that it is copper. In that member's words, cents "haven't been copper since mid 1982," and cents are no longer made. The same member said a local coin shop (LCS) pays three cents for copper Lincoln Memorial cents.
Bill in Burl suggested keeping it as an oddity, of little value.
Spark1951 wrote that the 1979-D "has a lot of red color and very little wear." Because it is copper and cents are no longer made, Spark1951 thought it was a good candidate to save in a flip, whether it is an RPM or not. The post noted that some people see the mechanical doubling and pass, but said the choice is up to the owner.
Source: CoinTalk, "1979D one cent???"
Read next
Weekly Market Intelligence
Weekly rare coin intelligence — auctions, price action, and analysis, delivered via LINE.
Free · Instant · Block anytime