1938 Lincoln Wheat Cent
Circulation strike struck at the Philadelphia Mint · 156,682,000 made
- Mintage
- 156,682,000
- 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.
Face value · Metal value · Small premium · Collector premium · Significant rarity. We use bands because prices change daily.
What is a 1938 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 1938 Lincoln Wheat Cent rare?
- No. 157 million were made, a typical run for the series. Condition and varieties decide its value, not the date.
- Where is the mint mark on a 1938 Lincoln Wheat Cent?
- On the obverse, directly below the date. Philadelphia cents have no mint mark.
- Which Philadelphia dates near 1938 are scarcer?
- The 1933 at 14,360,000. So the 1938 is on the scarcer side for those years.
- How many 1938 Lincoln Wheat Cent coins were made?
- 156,682,000.
What to check on your 1938
- There's no mint mark on this one, so the date and condition are what matter.
- Proof or circulation strike? A proof has mirror-like fields and frosted design details and was sold to collectors, not released in change. The 1938 Lincoln Wheat Cent Proof (14,734 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.
With 156,682,000 made, you can still find a 1938 in rolls, old jars and inherited collections. The coins worth keeping are the uncirculated ones and any with a doubled die or other variety.
The story of the 1938
Philadelphia made 156,682,000 in 1938, down from 309 million in 1937. The next year it made 316 million (1939).
It was the big producer of the year, well ahead of 1938-S (15 million) and 1938-D (20 million).
Philadelphia struck the Lincoln Wheat Cent in 50 issues between 1909 and 1958. By mintage this one lands in the scarcer half, while the key for that mint is the 1932 (9,062,000). Within the 1930s it's 21st smallest of 27, between the 1939-S (52 million) and the 1930 (157 million).
The Depression low and the late 1930s boom (1930 to 1942)
The Depression cut cent demand sharply. Production fell to 19 million in Philadelphia in 1931. San Francisco struck just 866,000, creating the 1931-S, a key date that many people saved at the time, so it is more available in uncirculated grades than its mintage suggests. Output stayed low in 1932 and 1933, with no San Francisco cents in either year. Recovery began in 1934, when Philadelphia struck 219 million.
Proof cents returned in 1936, first with a satin finish and later with a brilliant finish. The 1936 also has a doubled die obverse. Output climbed through the late 1930s and topped 887 million in Philadelphia in 1941 as the defense buildup increased spending. Because collecting albums became popular in this decade, many rolls were saved, so uncirculated red coins from 1934 onward are much easier to find than earlier dates.
Elsewhere in US coinage in 1938
Felix Schlag's Jefferson nickel replaced the Buffalo nickel after a public design competition.
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 | 1938 |
| Mint | Philadelphia Mint |
| Mint mark | None |
| Strike type | Circulation strike |
| Mintage | 156,682,000 |
| 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 1938 Lincoln Wheat Cent issues
| Coin | Mintage | Type | Silver |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1938 Lincoln Wheat Cent | 156,682,000 | Circulation strike | – |
| 1938 Lincoln Wheat Cent Proof | 14,734 | Proof | – |
| 1938-D Lincoln Wheat Cent | 20,010,000 | Circulation strike | – |
| 1938-S Lincoln Wheat Cent | 15,180,000 | 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.