1960s Pennies – Large Date vs Small Date

So I’m not burying the lead, I’ll start with the differences in the 1960s pennies, large date vs. small date:

Looking at the images above (including the featured image with the two 1960-D pennies), the large date is on the left, and the small date is on the right.

If you look closely, the large date 1960s pennies will have the 9 and the 6 closer together. The 9 on the large date will go higher than the 1. The 6 also has a longer tail. The large dates also feature a slightly larger 0.

The small date 1960s pennies will have a noticeable gap between the 9 and the 6. Under a microscope, the 9 will be the same height as the 1, and they have a slightly smaller 0.

The absolute easiest way to tell just by looking at them is by looking at the gap between the 9 and the 6. Once you’ve seen the gap in the large date vs the small date, you’ll never confuse the two again. A gap equals small date, while no gap equals large date.

If that’s all the content you needed, you’re free to go! If you’d like to see what I found in my fifth coin roll hunt of 2024, continue on.

With that lesson out of the way, after two blowout games in the playoffs (Kansas City and Houston both getting wins), I’m able to sit down again and catch the Dallas Cowboys vs Green Bay Packers game. Green Bay is dominating so far (14-0 in the second quarter). Never underestimate the Dallas Cowboys’ ability to flub it in the playoffs.

I was able to look through some more pennies in the meantime, and again didn’t find anything too exciting. Not every hunt is going to turn up gems, and that’s okay! I’m still enjoying myself in the process.

I did get some more very nice looking upgrades, including a gem from the 70s, 80s, and 90s.

It’s pretty wild how rare it is to find Denver Mint pennies on the East Coast, especially ones that are in solid shape, so when I came across this 1972-D in a roll, I did get pretty excited:

The coin it replaced was a bit of a mess, so I’ll take an upgrade any day. Moving on to the next decade, I was able to grab a beautiful 1987 Philadelphia penny:

The details in this one are incredible, and it has great coloring and luster, without any major flaws. This one was a great upgrade that I think I’ll find hard to replace in just searching coin rolls.

The last penny of this hunt was a 1991 in the same quality realm as the last two. It just looks pretty, and was more detailed than my previous 1991: