Among interesting and significant Lincoln cent varieties produced since 1909 are the scarce 1909-S V.D.B. and 1914-D earlier noted, the curious 1922 plain, the low-mintage 1931-S, and the inexpensive issues of 1943, the latter being struck in zinc-coated steel to alleviate a war time shortage of copper.

In 1955 an obverse die was double punched at the Philadelphia Mint, causing coins struck from that die to have blurred lettering. Known as the 1955 Doubled Die cent, the issue was produced to the extent of about 24,000 pieces, most of which were released into circulation in Upstate New York and Massachusetts. From the outset the variety was recognized as scarce, and today an MS-65 coin is worth several thousand dollars.

In 1959 the reverse of the Lincoln cent was redesigned by mint engraver Frank Gasparro, and a motif featuring the Lincoln Memorial was substituted in place of the former wreath. In 1960 nationwide attention was caused when it was discovered that certain varieties of the year had the date figures in smaller numerals. Today it is believed that only four million 1960 Small Date cents were produced, from a total production of over 586 million coins.

As recently as the early 1960s, Lincoln cents were the most popular series on the American coin collecting scene. However, since that time interest has faded, and today relatively few people aspire to acquire one of each date and mintmark variety from 1909 onward. In Uncirculated grade, especially with attractive mint color, examples of the branch mint (Denver and San Francisco) issues from 1910 through 1924 are fairly difficult to locate, and some are exceedingly scarce, despite modest catalogue valuations. Many branch mint issues 1915-1925 are weakly struck. Dr. Sol Taylor, who has specialized in the study of Lincoln cents for many years, has written extensively on the challenges of collecting early issues.

As is the case with Indian cents, many AU and lower grade Uncirculated Lincoln cents have been cleaned or processed to make them appear in higher grades, thus the buyer is cautioned to be wary. Lincoln cents after 1930 are plentiful in Uncirculated grades. Most of them sell for relatively low values, therefore forming a set of them, especially of selected pieces, will take some time and patience, simply because most dealers do not want to be bothered handling coins which are worth a few dollars each, or less. Later date cents are most conveniently purchased in sets, such as a collection from 1934 to date or a collection of the Memorial reverse from 1959 to date.