1943-S Lincoln Wheat Cent
Circulation strike struck at the San Francisco Mint · 191,550,000 made
- Mintage
- 191,550,000
- Metal
- Zinc-coated steel
- Weight
- 2.7 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 1943-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
- A die variety or minting error
For market prices, check recent sold results for certified coins in the same grade.
Quick answers
- Is the 1943-S Lincoln Wheat Cent rare?
- No. 192 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 1943 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 1943 are scarcer?
- The 1938-S at 15,180,000, the 1939-S at 52,070,000, the 1948-S at 81,735,000, plus 5 more. So the 1943-S is one of the easier dates of its stretch.
- How many 1943-S Lincoln Wheat Cent coins were made?
- 191,550,000.
What to check on your 1943-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 1943-D (218 million made).
- Hold a magnet to it. Every regular 1943 cent is steel and sticks firmly; a 1943 cent that does not stick is either a copper-plated fake or one of the famous bronze errors and needs expert authentication.
- 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 191,550,000 made, you can still find a 1943-S 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 1943-S
Output at San Francisco climbed to 191,550,000 in 1943, from 86 million the year before. The next year it made 283 million (1944-S).
1943-D came to 218 million and 1943 came to 685 million, so neither mint's 1943 coin is much scarcer than the other.
San Francisco struck the Lincoln Wheat Cent in 44 issues between 1909 and 1955. By mintage this one lands in the more common half, while the key for that mint is the 1909-S VDB (484,000). Within the 1940s it's 13th smallest of 30, between the 1947 (191 million) and the 1947-D (195 million).
Steel cents and shell case brass (1943 to 1946)
Copper was needed for the war effort, so in 1943 the Mint struck cents on zinc coated steel. They are lighter at 2.70 grams, stick to a magnet and were often confused with dimes. The zinc coating wore quickly and the steel rusted, so most survivors are dull gray or spotted. A few bronze cents dated 1943 were struck by mistake on leftover planchets and rank among the most famous errors, though most offered are plated or altered fakes.
In 1944 the Mint returned to a copper alloy made partly from melted cartridge cases, which gives these coins a slightly different shade. A few 1944 cents were struck on steel planchets by mistake. Denver made the 1944-D/S overmintmark. The 1943-D has a repunched D variety. Production stayed very high through 1946, so common dates from these years are easy to find, often with bright red color.
Elsewhere in US coinage in 1943
To save copper for the war effort, cents were struck in zinc-coated steel. A handful of bronze planchets left in the presses produced the famous 1943 copper cents.
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 | 1943 |
| Mint | San Francisco Mint |
| Mint mark | "S" |
| Strike type | Circulation strike |
| Mintage | 191,550,000 |
| Face value | 1¢ |
| Composition | Zinc-coated steel |
| Weight | 2.7 grams |
| Diameter | 19.05 mm |
| Edge | Plain |
| Designer | Victor David Brenner |
Other 1943 Lincoln Wheat Cent issues
| Coin | Mintage | Type | Silver |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1943 Lincoln Wheat Cent | 684,628,670 | Circulation strike | – |
| 1943 Copper (Bronze) Penny | about 40 known | Variety | – |
| 1943-D Lincoln Wheat Cent | 217,660,000 | Circulation strike | – |
| 1943-D Copper (Bronze) Penny | – | Variety | – |
| 1943-S Lincoln Wheat Cent | 191,550,000 | Circulation strike | – |
| 1943-S Copper (Bronze) Penny | – | 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.