1946-S Lincoln Wheat Cent
Circulation strike struck at the San Francisco Mint · 198,100,000 made
- Mintage
- 198,100,000
- Metal
- 95% copper, 5% 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 1946-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 1946-S Lincoln Wheat Cent rare?
- Not by date: 198 million were struck. A sharp uncirculated coin or a known variety is what makes one special.
- Where is the mint mark on a 1946 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 1946 are scarcer?
- The 1949-S at 64,290,000, the 1948-S at 81,735,000, the 1942-S at 85,590,000, plus 6 more. So the 1946-S is one of the easier dates of its stretch.
- How many 1946-S Lincoln Wheat Cent coins were made?
- 198,100,000.
What to check on your 1946-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 1946-D (316 million made).
- 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 198,100,000 made, you can still find a 1946-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 1946-S
San Francisco made 198,100,000 in 1946, up from 182 million in 1945. In 1947 the figure was 99 million.
The other mints made far more that year: 1946 alone came to 992 million, roughly 5 for every 1946-S. That makes the 1946-S the scarcer 1946 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 1946-S is one of the easier ones. Within the 1940s it's 15th smallest of 30, between the 1947-D (195 million) and the 1942-D (207 million).
1946 is the last year the Lincoln Wheat Cent was made in 95% copper, 5% zinc (brass). Check the edge or weigh it if you find one from the year after.
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 1946
The Roosevelt dime was introduced in January 1946, less than a year after President Franklin Roosevelt's death, honoring his work with the March of Dimes.
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 | 1946 |
| Mint | San Francisco Mint |
| Mint mark | "S" |
| Strike type | Circulation strike |
| Mintage | 198,100,000 |
| Face value | 1¢ |
| Composition | 95% copper, 5% zinc (brass) |
| Weight | 3.11 grams |
| Diameter | 19.05 mm |
| Edge | Plain |
| Designer | Victor David Brenner |
Other 1946 Lincoln Wheat Cent issues
| Coin | Mintage | Type | Silver |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1946 Lincoln Wheat Cent | 991,655,000 | Circulation strike | – |
| 1946-D Lincoln Wheat Cent | 315,690,000 | Circulation strike | – |
| 1946-S Lincoln Wheat Cent | 198,100,000 | 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.