2021 Penny (Lincoln Cent): Mintage & What to Check

In 2021 the U.S. Mint struck about 7.91 billion Lincoln cents for circulation: Philadelphia 3.93 billion, Denver 3.98 billion, San Francisco 816,662. That is 4% more than 2020. Among the 117 years from 1909 to 2025, 2021 ranks number 34 by total mintage (1 = most coins made), so it is a mid-range date for availability. The scarcest 2021 issue by mintage is San Francisco (816,662); the most common is Denver (3,982,800,000). Within the 2020s, 2021 ranks 1 of 6 years for mintage; the decade's high was 2021 (7.91 billion) and its low was 2025 (1.30 billion). Mint by mint: Philadelphia rose 10% from 2020; Denver fell 1% from 2020; San Francisco rose 5% from 2020.

The mint mark, if any, sits under the date on the front of the coin. A 2021 cent with no mint mark was struck at Philadelphia and is the normal, common form for that mint. The letters you can find on 2021 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 2021 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 2021 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 2021 issue), and the grade (an uncirculated coin with original red colour is a different market from a worn brown one). A normal, circulated 2021 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.