1944-S Wheat Penny Value: Prices, Errors and Steel S

A 1944-S wheat penny is worth about 20 to 35 cents in normal worn or lightly worn condition; the Red Book figures quoted by JM Bullion are $0.20 in Extremely Fine and $0.35 Uncirculated. Certified, unworn coins with full red color bring more: the PCGS Price Guide (September 24, 2026) lists $10 in MS63 RD, $18 in MS65 RD, $26 in MS66 RD and $135 in MS67 RD. CoinValueChecker (page updated September 23, 2026) reports recent MS66 sales of $16 to $32.95 and MS67 sales of $104 to $168, in line with those guide values.

The only 1944-S worth a fortune is the steel error, of which two are known.

The S means it was struck at San Francisco, which made 282,760,000 cents in 1944, against 1,435,000,000 at Philadelphia and 430,578,000 at Denver. It is the scarcest 1944 cent by mintage, but still very common. Like all 1944 to 1946 cents it was made partly from salvaged brass shell cases topped up with copper (Wikipedia), so it can show brass-colored streaks. CoinValueChecker notes the 1944-S has the highest survival rate of the three 1944 mints, which it links to lighter circulation on the West Coast; that is one reason unworn 1944-S coins are not scarce.

• 1944-S steel cent. Struck on a leftover 1943 zinc-coated steel blank. PCGS counts 2 and lists $525,000 in MS66 (September 24, 2026). Wikipedia reports one sold for $373,750 in August 2008, a Lincoln cent record at the time; the finer coin, PCGS MS66, sold for $408,000 in 2021 (CoinWeek).
• 1944-S/S repunched mint mark. A second S shows slightly offset from the first. It carries a small premium: CoinValueChecker reports an ANACS MS65 Red sold for $39.95 in June 2026.
• Not a 1944-S: the 1944-D/S. This valuable variety is a Denver coin with a D punched over an S; PCGS lists it from $45 in Good to $26,000 in MS67 RD. If the letter under the date is an S alone, you do not have it.
• Off-center strikes and other mint errors are priced by how dramatic they are; brass streaks from the shell-case metal are normal and add nothing.

• Magnet. A 1944-S that sticks may be one of the two steel coins or, far more likely, an altered 1943-S steel cent; weigh it (steel is about 2.7 g, a normal coin 3.11 g) and send it for authentication.
• Mint mark under a magnifier. Look for a doubled S (1944-S/S). Make sure it is not a D over S, which would be a 1944-D/S.
• Wear and color. An unworn coin with full red color can grade MS66 or MS67 and bring $26 to $135 certified; brown or worn coins are worth cents.
• Grading cost. Grading fees are higher than the value of most 1944-S cents, so send one only if it is steel, a clear variety, or looks like MS67 or better. See should you grade a coin.

By mintage, the rarest regular S Lincoln cent is the 1909-S VDB, with 484,000 struck (Wikipedia mintage tables); the 1931-S and 1914-D are other famous low-mintage keys. By survivors, the rarest S cents are errors: the 1944-S steel (2 known, PCGS) and the 1943-S bronze (5 known, PCGS). The 1909-S VDB story and prices are on the 1909 penny page.

Research and drafting for this page were assisted by AI and checked line by line against the sources listed below. Prices are copied from the named price guide or auction report with its date; where a figure could not be confirmed we say so rather than estimate. If you find an error, tell us and we will correct it.