1944-S Steel Penny
Variety of the 1944-S Lincoln Wheat Cent struck at the San Francisco Mint
- Mintage
- 1+ known
- 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 1944-S Steel Penny 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 1944-S Steel Penny rare?
- Yes. It's a variety or error, not a regular issue.
- Where is the mint mark on a 1944 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.
What to check on your 1944-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 1944-S (283 million made).
- A genuine 1944 cent is brass and weighs about 3.11 grams. One that sticks to a magnet and weighs about 2.7 grams could be a rare steel error, but most are plated or altered coins.
- 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 mint mark and date have not been tooled or added, or buy one already certified by PCGS or NGC.
The story of the 1944-S
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 1944
Cents went back to a copper alloy, partly made from recycled cartridge cases ("shell-case brass"). A few leftover steel planchets produced the rare 1944 steel 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 | 1944 |
| Mint | San Francisco Mint |
| Mint mark | "S" |
| Strike type | Circulation strike |
| Mintage | 1+ known |
| Face value | 1¢ |
| Composition | Zinc-coated steel |
| Weight | 2.7 grams |
| Diameter | 19.05 mm |
| Edge | Plain |
| Designer | Victor David Brenner |
Other 1944 Lincoln Wheat Cent issues
| Coin | Mintage | Type | Silver |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1944 Lincoln Wheat Cent | 1,435,000,000 | Circulation strike | – |
| 1944 Steel Penny | – | Variety | – |
| 1944-D Lincoln Wheat Cent | 430,578,000 | Circulation strike | – |
| 1944-D/S Lincoln Cent | – | Variety | – |
| 1944-D Steel Penny | about 10 known | Variety | – |
| 1944-S Lincoln Wheat Cent | 282,760,000 | Circulation strike | – |
| 1944-S Steel 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.