1978 Red Penny No MM. Any Value? 1 1

[Khouse 69]

[Lem E]

Welcome to the forum. No value over face. Looks like a cup holder coin and has some staining or a bit of corrosion from exposure to the elements. No mint mark means it was minted in Philadelphia. 

Edited October 8, 2023 by Lem E
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[Greenstang]

Welcome to the Chat Board

Certainly not a red CENT, just a regular circulated 1978 cent that is worth 1cent.  
There were over 5 1/2 Billion minted at the Philadelphia mint alone so not rare.

[Sandon]

    Welcome to the NGC chat board.

    Cents of this era are composed of a 95% copper, 5% zinc alloy. (Beginning in the latter part of 1982 the composition changed to nearly pure zinc electroplated with copper.)  These alloys are chemically active and darken or corrode due to exposure to substances they encounter in circulation.  Coins that are discolored are generally disfavored by knowledgeable collectors, who in the case of modern coins like a 1978 Lincoln cent seek uncirculated examples with their original bright mint color and luster.

   If you thought that this coin might be some sort of mint error such as a coin struck on a wrong composition planchet, please be advised that such pieces are extremely rare, and there is virtually no chance that you would find one in circulation.  As in 1978 there had been no recent composition change in the cent that would result in the possibility a planchet (coin blank) of the same size of a different composition being around the mint production floor, it is extremely unlikely that a wrong composition cent of the correct size could have been accidentally produced.

[powermad5000]

Hello and welcome!

I had to look for a few at your coin when you said red in the title of this thread as to what you were referring to. Maybe a deep dark red but not the red collectors refer to when looking for coins graded or ungraded. The mint "red" color is easily identified by sight, and I have submitted a photo below of what this cent should look like from a collectors standpoint. The photo is from NGC CoinExplorer. The Philadelphia mint did not put their mintmark on Lincoln Cents conversely as Denver did with the D and more recently the W for West Point. Your coin is normally circulated and is worth face value.

 

[EagleRJO]

The color would be Brown (BN) like the attached, not Red (RD) which is a brighter copper color like the one Powermad posted.  And I agree it's a spender.

Edited October 8, 2023 by EagleRJO