2012 Penny (Lincoln Cent): Mintage & What to Check

In 2012 the U.S. Mint struck about 6.02 billion Lincoln cents for circulation: Philadelphia 3.13 billion, Denver 2.88 billion, San Francisco 1.2 million. That is 22% more than 2011. Among the 117 years from 1909 to 2025, 2012 ranks number 47 by total mintage (1 = most coins made), so it is a mid-range date for availability. The scarcest 2012 issue by mintage is San Francisco (1,237,415); the most common is Philadelphia (3,132,000,000). Within the 2010s, 2012 ranks 8 of 10 years for mintage; the decade's high was 2016 (9.12 billion) and its low was 2010 (4.37 billion). Mint by mint: Philadelphia rose 30% from 2011; Denver rose 14% from 2011; San Francisco fell 26% from 2011.

The mint mark, if any, sits under the date on the front of the coin. A 2012 cent with no mint mark was struck at Philadelphia and is the normal, common form for that mint. The letters you can find on 2012 circulation cents are D (Denver) and S (San Francisco).

• Cents from 1983 onward are copper-plated zinc (about 2.5 g). The plating is thin, so these coins corrode easily: bubbles, pitting or grey spots on a bright coin are damage, not a variety.
• From 2010 the reverse shows the Union Shield. Circulation coins are copper-plated zinc; the only way to get a different alloy is a collector set, so a 2010-or-later cent that weighs about 3.1 g is worth a second look but is almost always a plated or altered piece.
• For any 2012 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 2012 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 2012 issue), and the grade (an uncirculated coin with original red colour is a different market from a worn brown one). A normal, circulated 2012 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.