1922 "No D" Lincoln Cent
Variety of the 1922 Lincoln Wheat Cent struck at the Denver Mint
- Mintage
- Not recorded
- 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.
Face value · Metal value · Small premium · Collector premium · Significant rarity. We use bands because prices change daily.
What is a 1922 "No D" Lincoln Cent worth?
Value depends entirely on whether the coin is genuine and on its condition. Have any candidate authenticated before you buy or sell.
For market prices, check recent sold results for certified coins in the same grade.
Quick answers
- Is the 1922 "No D" Lincoln Cent rare?
- Yes. It's a variety or error, not a regular issue.
- Where is the mint mark on a 1922 Lincoln Wheat Cent?
- On the obverse, directly below the date. Philadelphia cents have no mint mark.
What to check on your 1922
- There's no mint mark on this one, so the date and condition are what matter.
- Check the date and mint mark under magnification for tooling or added letters. Scarce dates are the ones forgers alter.
- 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.
Low-mintage dates attract altered and counterfeit coins. Check that the date have not been tooled or added, or buy one already certified by PCGS or NGC.
The story of the 1922
Initials return and the 1922 plain (1918 to 1929)
In 1918 Brenner's initials returned, this time tiny on the truncation of Lincoln's shoulder, where they stayed for the rest of the series. Production stayed high after the war, but a recession cut 1921 output. In 1922 only Denver struck cents. Worn and filled dies at Denver produced coins with no visible mint mark, the 1922 Plain. Only one die pair shows a strong reverse and no trace of the D. That is the variety collectors want.
Branch mint cents of the 1920s are known for soft strikes. The 1924-D, 1926-S and other San Francisco and Denver dates often show weak hair detail and mushy wheat lines. The 1926-S is notoriously hard to find with red color. Most dates from this era survive in circulated grades with brown surfaces. Fully struck, red examples from the branch mints are much harder to find than Philadelphia coins.
Elsewhere in US coinage in 1922
Only Denver struck Lincoln cents in 1922. Worn and filled dies at Denver produced cents with a missing mint mark, now known as the 1922 "No D" or "Plain" cent.
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
Specifications
| Series | Lincoln Wheat Cent (1909–1958) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1922 |
| Mint | Denver Mint |
| Mint mark | None |
| Strike type | Circulation strike |
| Mintage | Not recorded |
| 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 1922 Lincoln Wheat Cent issues
| Coin | Mintage | Type | Silver |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1922-D Lincoln Wheat Cent | 7,160,000 | Circulation strike | – |
| 1922 "No D" Lincoln Cent | – | Variety | – |
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.