Is the 1913-S Lincoln Wheat Cent rare?

Not in absolute terms: 6.1 million were made. It is one of the smaller runs in the series, though, so uncirculated examples are worth a little more than most dates.

Where is the mint mark on a 1913 Lincoln Wheat Cent?

On the obverse, directly below the date. Philadelphia cents have no mint mark. On this coin the mark is S, for San Francisco.

Which San Francisco dates near 1913 are scarcer?

The 1909-S VDB at 484,000, the 1909-S at 1,825,000, the 1911-S at 4,026,000, plus 4 more. So the 1913-S is one of the easier dates of its stretch.

Lincoln Wheat Cent · Cents

1913-S Lincoln Wheat Cent

Circulation strike struck at the San Francisco Mint · 6,101,000 made

Mintage: 6,101,000
Metal: 95% copper, 5% tin and zinc
Weight: 3.11 g
Diameter: 19.05 mm

Original illustration. Tap to flip. Not a photograph of the actual coin.

Copper content2.95grams

Value band: Small premium

Face value · Metal value · Small premium · Collector premium · Significant rarity. We use bands because prices change daily.

What is a 1913-S Lincoln Wheat Cent worth?

Even worn Wheat cents usually sell for a little more than face, because so many people collect them by date. Bright uncirculated coins with red color bring more.

What would make yours worth more:

Uncirculated condition with full original luster
Full red copper color (labeled RD) rather than brown
A die variety or minting error

For market prices, check recent sold results for certified coins in the same grade.

Quick answers

Is the 1913-S Lincoln Wheat Cent rare?: Not in absolute terms: 6.1 million were made. It is one of the smaller runs in the series, though, so uncirculated examples are worth a little more than most dates.
Where is the mint mark on a 1913 Lincoln Wheat Cent?: On the obverse, directly below the date. Philadelphia cents have no mint mark. On this coin the mark is S, for San Francisco.
Which San Francisco dates near 1913 are scarcer?: The 1909-S VDB at 484,000, the 1909-S at 1,825,000, the 1911-S at 4,026,000, plus 4 more. So the 1913-S is one of the easier dates of its stretch.
How many 1913-S Lincoln Wheat Cent coins were made?: 6,101,000.

What to check on your 1913-S

Make sure the mint mark really is an S. A worn or filled mark can be misread. It's what separates your coin from the 1913-D (16 million made).
Proof or circulation strike? A proof has mirror-like fields and frosted design details and was sold to collectors, not released in change. The 1913 Lincoln Wheat Cent Matte Proof (2,848 made) is the one to compare with.
Judge the grade under good light. Check the parallel lines in the wheat stalks, Lincoln's cheek and jaw, plus the hair above the ear. Uncirculated cents are also graded by color (RD, RB, BN) and full red coins are worth multiples of brown ones.

The story of the 1913-S

San Francisco made 6,101,000 in 1913, up from 4.4 million in 1912. In 1914 the figure was 4.1 million.

The other mints made far more that year: 1913 alone came to 77 million, roughly 13 for every 1913-S. That makes the 1913-S the scarcer 1913 coin, though still a common one.

Across San Francisco's 44 Lincoln Wheat Cent issues, the hardest to find is the 1909-S VDB with 484,000 made. The 1913-S is on the scarcer side of the middle. Within the 1910s it's 7th smallest of 29, between the 1910-S (6 million) and the 1912-D (10 million).

VDB, new branch mints and wartime demand (1909 to 1917)

Victor David Brenner's Lincoln cent was released on August 2, 1909, the centennial year of Lincoln's birth. Within days the Mint removed his initials, VDB, from the reverse after complaints that they were too prominent. San Francisco struck only 484,000 cents with the initials, creating the 1909-S VDB, the most famous key in the series. The 1909-S without initials is also scarce at 1.8 million.

Denver began striking cents in 1911. The 1914-D, with 1.2 million made, is another key and is often counterfeited by altering the date or adding a mint mark. Matte proofs were made from 1909 to 1916. Demand rose sharply with World War I. Output in 1917 passed 196 million in Philadelphia, a year that also includes a doubled die obverse. Survivors from this era are usually brown and worn, with full red coins scarce for the branch mints.

Elsewhere in US coinage in 1913

James Earle Fraser's Buffalo nickel replaced the Liberty Head nickel. The bison was redrawn standing on flat ground partway through the year because the raised mound wore away too quickly.

How to recognize it

Abraham Lincoln faces right with IN GOD WE TRUST above, LIBERTY to the left and the date to the right. The mint mark, when there is one, sits below the date. The reverse has two ears of wheat framing ONE CENT and UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, with E PLURIBUS UNUM across the top. The designer's initials V.D.B. appear on the reverse of some 1909 coins and on Lincoln's shoulder from 1918.

Mintage chart

Lincoln Wheat Cent mintages, 1913-S highlightedLog scale · hover or tap a bar · 1909–1958

Specifications

Series	Lincoln Wheat Cent (1909–1958)
Year	1913
Mint	San Francisco Mint
Mint mark	"S"
Strike type	Circulation strike
Mintage	6,101,000
Face value	1¢
Composition	95% copper, 5% tin and zinc (bronze)
Weight	3.11 grams
Diameter	19.05 mm
Edge	Plain
Designer	Victor David Brenner

Other 1913 Lincoln Wheat Cent issues

Coin	Mintage	Type	Silver
1913 Lincoln Wheat Cent	76,532,352	Circulation strike	–
1913 Lincoln Wheat Cent Matte Proof	2,848	Proof	–
1913-D Lincoln Wheat Cent	15,804,000	Circulation strike	–
1913-S Lincoln Wheat Cent	6,101,000	Circulation strike	–

Mintage: Lincoln cent mintage figures (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0), compiled from US Mint records and the Guide Book of United States Coins. How we build these pages.