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Obverse of the 1974 aluminum cent. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

US penny that turned up in San Diego worth $250,000

Tom Hoepf
Tom Hoepf

Obverse of the 1974 aluminum cent. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
Obverse of the 1974 aluminum cent. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
SAN DIEGO (AP) – A penny won’t buy much these days but a rare 1-cent piece could bring its owners as much as $250,000.

U-T San Diego says Randy Lawrence, who moved to La Jolla from Denver last August, inherited the silver-colored penny from his dad – an official with the Denver mint.

The coin gathered dust for 33 years and ended up in his car trunk when Lawrence moved.

But when Lawrence contacted a local coin dealer, Michael McConnell, he learned it was a 1974-D aluminum cent. Only 10 were minted in Denver and all were thought to be destroyed.

The penny’s now on display at a Long Beach coin expo. It will be auctioned this spring. Lawrence and McConnell plan to split the proceeds and donate up to $100,000 to charity.

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Information from: U-T San Diego, http://www.utsandiego.com

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AP-WF-01-31-14 0428GMT