1940-S Lincoln Wheat Cent
Circulation strike struck at the San Francisco Mint · 112,940,000 made
- Mintage
- 112,940,000
- Metal
- 95% copper, 5% tin and 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 1940-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 1940-S Lincoln Wheat Cent rare?
- Not by date: 113 million were struck. A sharp uncirculated coin or a known variety is what makes one special.
- Where is the mint mark on a 1940 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 1940 are scarcer?
- The 1938-S at 15,180,000, the 1936-S at 29,130,000, the 1937-S at 34,500,000, plus 4 more. So the 1940-S is one of the easier dates of its stretch.
- How many 1940-S Lincoln Wheat Cent coins were made?
- 112,940,000.
What to check on your 1940-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 1940-D (81 million made).
- Proof or circulation strike? A proof has mirror-like fields and frosted design details and was sold to collectors, not released in change. The 1940 Lincoln Wheat Cent Proof (15,872 made) is the one to compare with.
- 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 112,940,000 made, you can still find a 1940-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 1940-S
San Francisco made 112,940,000 in 1940, up from 52 million in 1939. In 1941 the figure was 92 million.
The other mints made far more that year: 1940 alone came to 587 million, roughly 5.2 for every 1940-S. That makes the 1940-S the scarcer 1940 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 1940-S is one of the easier ones. Within the 1940s it's 7th smallest of 30, between the 1947-S (99 million) and the 1941-D (129 million).
The Depression low and the late 1930s boom (1930 to 1942)
The Depression cut cent demand sharply. Production fell to 19 million in Philadelphia in 1931. San Francisco struck just 866,000, creating the 1931-S, a key date that many people saved at the time, so it is more available in uncirculated grades than its mintage suggests. Output stayed low in 1932 and 1933, with no San Francisco cents in either year. Recovery began in 1934, when Philadelphia struck 219 million.
Proof cents returned in 1936, first with a satin finish and later with a brilliant finish. The 1936 also has a doubled die obverse. Output climbed through the late 1930s and topped 887 million in Philadelphia in 1941 as the defense buildup increased spending. Because collecting albums became popular in this decade, many rolls were saved, so uncirculated red coins from 1934 onward are much easier to find than earlier dates.
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 | 1940 |
| Mint | San Francisco Mint |
| Mint mark | "S" |
| Strike type | Circulation strike |
| Mintage | 112,940,000 |
| Face value | 1¢ |
| Composition | 95% copper, 5% tin and zinc (bronze) |
| Weight | 3.11 grams |
| Diameter | 19.05 mm |
| Edge | Plain |
| Designer | Victor David Brenner |
Other 1940 Lincoln Wheat Cent issues
| Coin | Mintage | Type | Silver |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1940 Lincoln Wheat Cent | 586,810,000 | Circulation strike | – |
| 1940 Lincoln Wheat Cent Proof | 15,872 | Proof | – |
| 1940-D Lincoln Wheat Cent | 81,390,000 | Circulation strike | – |
| 1940-S Lincoln Wheat Cent | 112,940,000 | 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.