1963 Penny (Lincoln Cent): Mintage & What to Check

In 1963 the U.S. Mint struck about 2.53 billion Lincoln cents for circulation: Philadelphia 754.1 million, Denver 1.77 billion. That is 5% more than 1962. Among the 117 years from 1909 to 2025, 1963 ranks number 59 by total mintage (1 = most coins made), so it is a mid-range date for availability. The scarcest 1963 issue by mintage is Philadelphia (754,110,000); the most common is Denver (1,774,020,400). Within the 1960s, 1963 ranks 5 of 10 years for mintage; the decade's high was 1964 (6.45 billion) and its low was 1965 (1.50 billion). Mint by mint: Philadelphia rose 24% from 1962; Denver fell 1% from 1962. Proof cents for collectors: 3,075,645 from Philadelphia.

The mint mark, if any, sits under the date on the front of the coin. A 1963 cent with no mint mark was struck at Philadelphia and is the normal, common form for that mint. The letters you can find on 1963 circulation cents are D (Denver). Proof cents for 1963 were struck at Philadelphia with no mint mark; they have mirror-like fields and came from collector sets, not from circulation.

• Cents from this era are 95% copper and weigh 3.11 g. A coin with this date that weighs about 2.5 g is a plated or altered piece, not a transitional error (zinc cents only begin in 1982). Small raised blobs or lines between letters, especially between the B and E of LIBERTY, are die breaks (collectors call them BIE cents); they are common and carry little premium.
• For any 1963 cent, check three things before anything else: that the date and mint mark are fully readable, that the surfaces have not been cleaned (unnatural brightness, fine parallel scratches), and whether any doubling on the lettering is true die doubling (rounded, separated) rather than flat machine doubling.

What a 1963 cent is worth depends on three things in this order: the variety (a recognised doubled die or transitional error is worth far more than a normal coin), the mint (Philadelphia is the lowest-mintage 1963 issue), and the grade (an uncirculated coin with original red colour is a different market from a worn brown one). A normal, circulated 1963 cent from the most common mint is a very common coin; published price guides from grading services list values by grade and variety, and they change over time. This page does not give prices. To get a reference range for the exact coin in your hand, photograph both sides in even light and let the app read the date, mint mark and visible varieties first.