A childhood rhyme goes a little something like this: “Find a penny, pick it up, all day long you’ll have good luck!” But what if you found a penny, picked it up, and it was worth millions of dollars?

That’s a lot of coin. A Lincoln wheat penny minted in 1955 sold this month for $2,050 on eBay because it contains a rare feature known as a “double die error ...

You don’t need to be a seasoned collector or visit a coin shop to stumble upon valuable U.S. coins—some rare and sought-after pieces still show up in everyday pocket change. From minting errors to low ...