1971 Penny (Lincoln Cent): Mintage & What to Check

In 1971 the U.S. Mint struck about 5.36 billion Lincoln cents for circulation: Philadelphia 1.92 billion, Denver 2.91 billion, San Francisco 525.1 million, San Francisco 3.2 million. That is 2% fewer than 1970. Among the 117 years from 1909 to 2025, 1971 ranks number 52 by total mintage (1 = most coins made), so it is a mid-range date for availability. The scarcest 1971 issue by mintage is San Francisco (3,220,733); the most common is Denver (2,911,045,600). Within the 1970s, 1971 ranks 10 of 10 years for mintage; the decade's high was 1979 (10.16 billion) and its low was 1971 (5.36 billion). Mint by mint: Philadelphia rose 1% from 1970; Denver rose 1% from 1970; San Francisco fell 24% from 1970; San Francisco fell 100% from 1970.

The mint mark, if any, sits under the date on the front of the coin. A 1971 cent with no mint mark was struck at Philadelphia and is the normal, common form for that mint. The letters you can find on 1971 circulation cents are D (Denver) and S (San Francisco).

• 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 1971 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 1971 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 (San Francisco is the lowest-mintage 1971 issue), and the grade (an uncirculated coin with original red colour is a different market from a worn brown one). A normal, circulated 1971 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.