Lincoln Wheat Cent (1909–1958)

Specifications

Denomination: 1 cent
Series: Lincoln Wheat Cent
Designer: Victor David Brenner
Engraver: Victor David Brenner
Years of issue: 1909–1958
Weight: 3.11 g
Diameter: 19 mm
Edge: Plain
KM: KM-132

Public domain, U.S. Mint design. Reverse of a 1909 VDB Lincoln cent, shown as a type example.

America's first portrait coin — a tiny copper canvas that carried the country's wheat fields, wartime steel, and some of its most famous mint errors.

History

Designed by Lithuanian-born sculptor Victor David Brenner and issued in August 1909 for the 100th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln’s birth, replacing the Indian Head cent (Newman Numismatic Portal, accessed 2026-09-16).
It was the first U.S. coin to depict a real historical person — Lincoln’s right-facing portrait, based on an 1864 photograph — and the first cent to bear the motto IN GOD WE TRUST (U.S. Mint Lincoln Cent FAQ, accessed 2026-09-16).
Brenner’s initials V.D.B. first appeared prominently at the base of the reverse; public outcry over the advertising-like signature forced their removal within days of release, and they were restored only in tiny form on the obverse in 1918 (Coin Exchange NY, accessed 2026-09-16).
The wheat-ears reverse — ONE CENT framed by two wheat stalks with E PLURIBUS UNUM above — symbolized agricultural prosperity and ran until 1958, when the Lincoln Memorial reverse took over for Lincoln’s 150th birthday (U.S. Mint, accessed 2026-09-16).
In 1943, with copper diverted to WWII ammunition, cents were struck in zinc-coated steel (magnetic, 13% lighter, 2.70 g); the experiment rusted, jammed vending machines, and was abandoned after one year — though the Mint secretly recovered and destroyed large numbers of them (Wikipedia / 1943 steel cent, accessed 2026-09-16).
For 1944–1946 the Mint struck cents from salvaged brass shell casings augmented with copper, approximating the prewar bronze alloy; the standard 95% copper / 5% tin-zinc composition then resumed until the 1982 zinc change (Wikipedia / 1943 steel cent, accessed 2026-09-16).
Key wheat-era dates: 1909-S VDB (mintage 484,000), 1914-D (mintage 1,193,000), 1922 No D, 1931-S (mintage 866,000), and the 1955 doubled die (Money Metals / heritagepastime.com, accessed 2026-09-16).

Key dates and varieties

1909-S VDB — mintage 484,000, the first-year key and most famous Lincoln cent; high survival in Mint State because it was an instant sensation (Money Metals, accessed 2026-09-16).
1914-D — mintage 1,193,000; notoriously weakly struck and heavily counterfeited — authenticate by cert and diagnostics before paying key-date money (Invaluable / Mebane auction records, accessed 2026-09-16).
1922 No D — the only Lincoln cent from Denver dated 1922 lost its mintmark when a die was over-polished; Heritage auction record of $57,500 in MS64 (Invaluable, accessed 2026-09-16).
1931-S — mintage 866,000, second-lowest wheat mintage; a Depression-era San Francisco issue, commonly faked by adding an ‘S’ to 1931 coins (Littleton Coin / Coin Exchange NY, accessed 2026-09-16).
1955 doubled die (P) — the most famous U.S. doubled die; strong doubling visible on LIBERTY and the date; a handful slipped into circulation in upstate New York cigarette-pack distribution (Money Metals, accessed 2026-09-16).
1943 bronze — off-metal errors struck on leftover bronze planchets at all three mints; genuine examples number in the dozens and one has exceeded $1,000,000 at auction (LincolnCentsOnline, accessed 2026-09-16).

Specifications

Weight: 3.11 g (bronze); 2.70 g (1943 steel) (PCGS CoinFacts via NNP, accessed 2026-09-16).
Composition: 95% copper, 5% tin and zinc (1909–1942, 1947–1958); zinc-coated steel in 1943; shell-casing brass in 1944–1946 (U.S. Mint, accessed 2026-09-16).
Diameter: 19 mm; edge: plain (PCGS CoinFacts via NNP, accessed 2026-09-16).
Designer: Victor David Brenner (obverse and reverse) (U.S. Mint, accessed 2026-09-16).
Mints: Philadelphia (no mintmark), Denver (D), San Francisco (S); steel cents struck at all three (Wikipedia, accessed 2026-09-16).

Collector notes

Grading quirk: copper color designations (Red, Red-Brown, Brown) drive enormous premiums — a Red example can be worth multiples of a Brown one, and copper is fragile, so original skin matters (PCGS CoinFacts, accessed 2026-09-16).
Authentication: the 1914-D and 1931-S are among the most counterfeited U.S. coins — added or altered mintmarks are common; buy certified (PCGS/NGC) for any key date (Coin Exchange NY, accessed 2026-09-16).
Check 1943 ‘bronze’ cents with a magnet: genuine steel cents stick, copper ones don’t — most offered ‘copper 1943s’ are copper-plated fakes (LincolnCentsOnline, accessed 2026-09-16).
Full strike matters most on branch-mint wheats; weak strikes from worn dies are common and cheap, while truly sharp early Denver and San Francisco coins carry premiums (Heritage Pastime, accessed 2026-09-16).
Market guidance: common wheat cents trade near bulk copper value; only key dates and high-grade Reds justify grading fees — a $25–$40 submission only pencils out above roughly $100 of upside (Numismatic News, accessed 2026-09-16).