This penny is not worth anything; at most, one will sell for around $1, and that's only if it comes paired with its original commemorative card. Most coin collectors appraise a Lincoln-Kennedy penny at face value -- worth a whopping one cent -- regardless of its condition. This is because the Lincoln-Kennedy coin was not issued by the US mint and thus has no real value to them.
So what is the double-headed Lincoln and Kennedy penny if not a legitimate collectors' item? Simple. The penny is a novelty, a souvenir made in mid-seventies by an entrepreneur who was rather amused by the similarities between Abraham Lincoln and John F. Kennedy, and sought to commemorate them by stamping a simplistic image of JFK onto uncirculated Lincoln head pennies. These pennies were then attached to small cards that included a list of coincidences connecting the two presidents.
Among these coincidences are Kennedy and Lincoln's 100-year apart election dates, their Friday assassinations, their wives' unfortunate position as immediate witnesses to these assassinations, and their successors both being surnamed Johnson. Additionally, both Kennedy and Lincoln were assassinated by radical southerners, who in turn were murdered before they could be put to trial.
Focusing back on the value of the penny itself, these coins are actually considered to be worth less than their unetched counterparts, as the inclusion of JFK's head next to Lincoln's is a form of defacement, equivalent to scribbling moustaches all over an antique paper bill. They might appeal to novelty collectors and Lincoln-Kennedy enthusiasts, but this appeal is nowhere near strong enough for these pennies to collect a sizeable price. After all, there's still a fair amount of them floating around out there, and there aren't many people who feel the need for a novelty coin in their lives anyway. Least of all one that is sometimes viewed as a mark of gullibility.
So what is the double-headed Lincoln and Kennedy penny if not a legitimate collectors' item? Simple. The penny is a novelty, a souvenir made in mid-seventies by an entrepreneur who was rather amused by the similarities between Abraham Lincoln and John F. Kennedy, and sought to commemorate them by stamping a simplistic image of JFK onto uncirculated Lincoln head pennies. These pennies were then attached to small cards that included a list of coincidences connecting the two presidents.
Among these coincidences are Kennedy and Lincoln's 100-year apart election dates, their Friday assassinations, their wives' unfortunate position as immediate witnesses to these assassinations, and their successors both being surnamed Johnson. Additionally, both Kennedy and Lincoln were assassinated by radical southerners, who in turn were murdered before they could be put to trial.
Focusing back on the value of the penny itself, these coins are actually considered to be worth less than their unetched counterparts, as the inclusion of JFK's head next to Lincoln's is a form of defacement, equivalent to scribbling moustaches all over an antique paper bill. They might appeal to novelty collectors and Lincoln-Kennedy enthusiasts, but this appeal is nowhere near strong enough for these pennies to collect a sizeable price. After all, there's still a fair amount of them floating around out there, and there aren't many people who feel the need for a novelty coin in their lives anyway. Least of all one that is sometimes viewed as a mark of gullibility.
