not worth a cent, phr. — Green’s Dictionary of Slang

not worth a cent phr.

also not worth a lead cent, ...a red cent, ...two cents

(US) worthless, useless.

1900		Marvel 21 Dec. 12: Go back – git! [...] or this yere gal’s life ain’t worth a red cent!
1910		Intermountain Catholic (Salt Lake City, UT) 8 Oct. 4/2: ‘It’s not worth a d— cent, but we charge a dollar for it’.
1955		B. Appel Tough Guy [ebook] He’d bucked The Office. His life wasn’t worth a lead cent.
1964		Larner & Tefferteller Addict in the Street (1966) 122: The spics aren’t worth a cent.
1981		A. Weller Day of the Dog 97: I feel life just ain’t worth a cent, and I may as well end it all.
1985		N. Pileggi Wiseguy (2001) 227: If they thought my parents or my sisters knew where we were, their lives wouldn’t be worth two cents.