1944 Wheat Penny Value

Look under the date on the front of your coin. No letter means Philadelphia, a D means Denver and an S means San Francisco. The letters RD after a grade mean the coin still has its full red color, and RB means part of it has turned brown.

Philadelphia made 1,435,000,000 cents in 1944, more than the other two mints together. Graded coins in top condition sold for $65 to $1,560. The best price went to one graded MS-68 RD in 2019.

Denver made 430,578,000. Coins graded MS-67 RD sold for $37.60 to $423, and one graded MS-68 RD brought $2,160 in 2021.

San Francisco made 282,760,000, the fewest of the three. Two graded coins sold for $65 and $480. The higher price went to one graded MS-67+ RD in 2019.

The famous one is the 1944 steel cent. The Mint went back from steel to brass in 1944, but a few steel blanks left over from 1943 were struck by mistake. About 27 are known from Philadelphia and 7 to 10 from Denver.

Philadelphia steel cents sold for $13,200 to $158,625. The lowest prices went to cleaned coins, and the top price to one graded MS-64 in 2013. A Denver coin graded MS-62 sold for $52,800 and a San Francisco coin graded EF-40 for $49,200, both in 2018.

On a 1944-D over S, the D mint mark was punched over an S mint mark. Look at the mint mark with a magnifier, and parts of the S show around the D. One graded EF-40 sold for $80 in 2017. Red coins in top condition sold for $900 to $4,600.

Some 1944 cents were struck on a dime blank. The coin is small and silver colored, and part of the design runs off the edge. Four sold for $1,527.50 to $7,200, and the best price went to a 1944-S graded MS-62 in 2025.

Smaller mistakes sell for much less. Coins struck off center, with part of the design missing, sold for $55 to $432. One double struck coin brought $288, a broadstruck coin $192 and a coin struck on a thick blank $282.

• Look at the color. A normal 1944 cent is brown or copper red. A steel one is silver gray.
• Hold a magnet to it. A magnet picks up a steel cent but not a brass one.
• Weigh it on a kitchen scale that reads to two decimal places. A brass cent weighs about 3.11 grams, and a steel one about 2.7 grams.
• Check the date. A steel cent dated 1943 is a normal coin, not the error. See the 1943 steel penny value page for those.
• If every test points to steel, do not clean the coin. Send it to a grading service before you try to sell it.

Most 1944 cents fail the magnet test. That means you have a normal brass coin, so check its mint mark and condition instead.

The metal matters most. A steel 1944 cent sold for $13,200 even after it had been cleaned. The best normal brass coin on this page brought $2,160.

For normal coins, only top condition counts. Denver coins graded MS-67 RD sold for $37.60 to $423, while one graded MS-68 RD brought $2,160.

Condition also moves the price of steel cents. Cleaned coins sold for $13,200 and $16,200, while one graded MS-64 sold for $158,625.

Every price on this page went to a coin that a grading service had checked and graded. If you think you have an error, have it graded before you sell it.

In 1943 the Mint made cents from zinc-plated steel to save copper for the war. After public complaints, cents dated 1944 through 1946 were made of brass from salvaged shell casings, with pure copper added. That is why a 1944 cent looks like any other wheat penny. For other dates, see the Lincoln wheat penny values.