1931-S Lincoln Wheat Cent

Specifications

Wikimedia Commons, Lost Dutchman Rare Coins, public domain

866,000 struck — the Depression-era key date that collectors hoarded in rolls.

History

The Great Depression is the whole explanation: by 1931 the Pacific coast economy needed so few new cents that San Francisco struck a token coinage of just 866,000 — and would strike no cents at all in 1932, 1933, or 1934 (GreatCollections; accessed 2026-09-16)
The 866,000 figure is the second-lowest business-strike mintage of the entire Lincoln cent series, behind only the 1909-S VDB at 484,000 (GreatCollections; accessed 2026-09-16)
Victor D. Brenner designed both faces: the obverse portrait adapted from a 1907 plaque modeled after a Mathew Brady photograph, and the reverse framing the denomination between two stylized ears of durum wheat (GreatCollections; accessed 2026-09-16)
The mintage was published while the coins were still available at face value, so collectors withdrew rolls and bags immediately — that is why a famous key date remains readily available in Mint State today (GreatCollections; accessed 2026-09-16)
It is an anchor coin of the wheat cent date-and-mintmark set and a mainstay of Registry competition, and demand for it never softens (GreatCollections; accessed 2026-09-16)

Key date by mintage: 866,000 struck at San Francisco, second-lowest of the series after the 1909-S VDB’s 484,000 (GreatCollections; accessed 2026-09-16)
PCGS CoinFacts survival context cited by dealers: only about 80,000 of the 866,000 are estimated to survive today (West Coast Coins / PCGS CoinFacts estimate; accessed 2026-09-16)
Heritage calls it a key date ‘in terms of mintage’ but notes that quite a few were saved, so Mint State examples are easily located while spotting limits upper-end potential (Heritage Auctions; accessed 2026-09-16)

Certified populations: PCGS Pop 1,025 in MS-65 RD with 177 finer, 3,289 total graded (MyCollect PCGS data)

The S mintmark below the date must be the correct style and position: genuine 1931 cents with an added ‘S’ are a classic alteration, and struck counterfeits exist. On genuine coins the date is typically rather soft; coppercoins.com notes counterfeits show a date too sharp and too high in relief, with the lower extremity of the 3 too long and a mintmark too small and misshapen (CopperCoins; accessed 2026-09-16)
Rim profile is a key tell: a genuine cent shows a ramp-like, bowl-like drop from rim into the fields, while the examined struck counterfeits drop straight off the rim with overly sharp inside rims — and the L of LIBERTY sits weak near the rim on genuine coins versus too close to the rim on fakes (CopperCoins; accessed 2026-09-16)
Value factors: the Red (RD) designation drives the price — essentially all original mint color, conventionally 95%+ — and this is one of the few key dates where genuine full Red coins exist in numbers because so many went into rolls; carbon spotting from long storage is the usual defect, and color varies from bright orange to deep copper, so the individual coin matters more here than on almost any other date (GreatCollections; accessed 2026-09-16)