1936 Lincoln Cent : A Collector’s Guide

By Charles Morgan and Hubert Walker for CoinWeek Notes …..
 

Demand for domestic coinage continued to grow in 1936 and the United States Mint responded by adding work shifts and ramping up production. In Philadelphia, Lincoln Wheat Cent production was higher than it had been at any time since 1920. Over 309 million pieces were struck, all from blanks manufactured in-house. This production level largely satisfied national demand, as output from the Denver and San Francisco mints numbered 40,620,000 and 29,130,000, respectively.

With this large mintage, the 1936 cent circulated freely for decades, the details of each cent gently wearing down over time. While unusual to find in change today, roll hunters know that the 1936 cent turns up here and there, typically in grades Good to Fine.

The coin hobby was growing in the mid-1930s. The Great Depression, paradoxically, helped make the hobby a popular pursuit. Coin boards allowed for some cheap entertainment and collectors sought one-cent coins from each date and denomination, pulling the coins from change and mounting them in a decorative display.

Despite being a common coin, the 1936 Lincoln Cent provides collectors with enough errors and varieties to maintain interest. The Mint overused the dies to produce such a large mintage, which lead to die failure, resulting in cuds. The population of 1936 Philly strikes is replete with a number of similar-looking cud breaks. There is also a dramatic doubled die obverse (DDO) variety that is visually striking and quite scarce. Legend Rare Coin Auctions sold one of the finest known 1936 FS-101 Doubled Dies (PCGS MS66+RD CAC) for $14,100 in January 2020. This variety has significant doubling in IN GOD WE TRUST, LIBERTY, and the date and reminds one of the 1955 and 1972 Doubled Dies in the spread of doubling.

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Market Data and Noteworthy Specimens

Original rolls were preserved, though not in the large numbers that were set aside with later dates. As the coin roll boom took hold in the 1950s and ’60s, 1936 cent rolls were routinely offered. An ad placed in the August 1948 issue of The Numismatist by dealer Lu Riggs promoted original uncirculated rolls for $2.20 each. This breaks out to about 4.5 cents per coin. Roll dealer M. Hirschhorn had an inventory of rolls in 1957, which he offered at $7.60 each (15.2 cents per coin) and a decade later he offered what inventory he had left of the date for $32.75 each (65.5 cents per coin). Uncirculated singles and partial rolls trade with some regularity on eBay. $15 to $20 seems to be the going rate these days, although a complete original roll with 50 brilliant Red cents sold on eBay in December 2020 for $386 ($7.72 per coin).

Top Population: PCGS MS68RD (4, 10/2024), NGC MS68RD (2, 10/2024), and CAC MS67RD (69:5 stickered:graded, 10/2024).

• NGC MS68RD #6819386-001: GreatCollections, November 10, 2024, Lot 1338435 – View.
• PCGS MS68RD #46958598: GreatCollections, June 25, 2023, Lot 1354154 – View. Secure Shield holder.
• PCGS MS68RD #45534551: Heritage, July 14, 2022, Lot 3024 – $16,620. Top pop 3 at time of sale. Secure Shield holder.
• PCGS MS67+RD #81627240: GreatCollections, October 6, 2024, Lot 1644786 – View.
• PCGS MS67+RD CAC #80679119: GreatCollections, September 15, 2024, Lot 1658199 – View.
• PCGS MS67+RD CAC #44900543: GreatCollections, April 28, 2024, Lot 1572292 – View. Secure Shield holder.
• NGC MS67+RD #6819923-003: GreatCollections, March 24, 2024, Lot 1472734 – View.
• NGC MS67+RD #6020590-001: GreatCollections, December 3, 2023, Lot 1461276 – View.
• NGC MS67+RD CAC #6822943-006: As NGC MS67+RD #6822943-006. Heritage, June 11, 2023, Lot 23049 – $312. No CAC sticker at time of sale; As NGC MS67+RD CAC #6822943-006. GreatCollections, November 12, 2023, Lot 1467052 – View. Certified strong for the grade by CAC since last auction appearance, price nearly doubled as result.
• PCGS MS67+RD CAC #35295032: “The Good Karma Lane Collection,” Heritage, April 30, 2023, Lot 54454 – $1,440.
• PCGS MS67+RD #45723902: Heritage, April 30, 2023, Lot 54453 – $1,140. Secure Shield holder.
• PCGS MS67+RD #81970468: DLRC, March 19, 2023, Lot 4041 – $1,201.56. Secure Shield holder.
• PCGS MS67+RD CAC #43994291: Heritage, December 20, 2022, Lot 25098 – $1,080. Secure Shield holder.
• PCGS MS67+RD CAC #81971934: “The Bender Family Collection of Post-1932 Lincoln Cents,” Heritage, December 15, 2022, Lot 3306 – $1,620. Bender Collection on insert. Secure Shield holder.

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Design

Obverse:

Sculptor Victor David Brenner’s portrait of Abraham Lincoln depicts the 16th president from the shoulder up. Lincoln is dressed in a period suit and a bow tie. Brenner’s initials V.D.B. appear in Lincoln’s shoulder truncation. Wrapping clockwise around the rim above Lincoln’s head is the motto IN GOD WE TRUST. The word LIBERTY appears behind Lincoln’s neck, on the left side of the coin. The date 1936 appears slightly lower, in front of Lincoln’s portrait on the coin’s right side.

Reverse:

Brenner’s “Wheat Cent” reverse. Two sheaths of wheat wrap around the right and the left side of the coin. At the top of the design, the motto E · PLURIBUS · UNUM wraps around the rim. The denomination ONE CENT is inscribed in large sans serif letters, the bottom arm of the “E” extending beyond the arm at the top. The middle arm is recessed. Beneath, in the same font but smaller, is the legend UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

Edge:

The edge of the 1936 Lincoln Cent is plain or smooth, without lettering or reeding.

Designer

Victor David Brenner was born in Lithuania in 1871 and immigrated to New York at the age of 19. The classically trained sculptor built a group of clients, which included the future president Theodore Roosevelt. Having created a medallion of Lincoln, Brenner was contracted by Roosevelt in 1908 to use one of his previous images of the late president for a new one-cent coin design. When he died, Brenner had carved over 125 different medals, sculptures, and coins (View Designer’s Profile).

Coin Specifications

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