As with all coins, the value depends on the condition of a coin, its rarity, and the state of the market  the rarest coin will be worth nothing if no-one wants to buy it where it is being offered for sale.

That said, the British grading system for coins works like this (I will not touch the lunatic American grading system with 70 different grades!):-

 Poor coins are very worn, and most of the detail of the coin will have gone, but you're still able to tell what type of coin it is.
 Fair coins are well worn, but more of the detail of the coin is visible, and it is easy to identify the coin.
 Good coins will have almost all the lettering readable, and the date will be easy to read in most cases.
 Very Good coins  will have all the coin readable, and some of the finer details of the design can start to be made out.
 Fine coins will have the details of the coins taking shape, and the coin is starting to become collectable if it's fairly recent.
 Very Fine coins will have all the details clear, and there will be wear only on the high points of the design, and most of the fine details shows clearly.
 Extremely Fine coins will have wear on only the highest points of the design.
 Uncirculated coins will have no wear on the high points of the design at all, though faults in the engraving, or wear on the die, may mean that the design may not be fully struck.

 Under no circumstances should collectible coins be cleaned or polished  this will destroy at least half its' collectible value.

Coming back to your 1862 penny, values for a bog-standard penny in UK Pounds, in Britain, are:

F - GBP 4
VF - GBP 10
EF - GBP 40
UNC - GBP 70

Lower grades are not worth anything much.

Multiply by 1.6 to get a US $ figure, then discount any amount for reduced interest in the coins in the States!

  18:10 3 Jul 2003 (UTC)