1947 Lincoln Cent Date Guide

Cold War begins; cents stabilize

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1947 overview Mintage, history, and notes for this year's cents

Philadelphia (MS)

Photo Credit: Cotgreave Collection

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Mintage: 190,555,000
Mintage Ranking for Type: (44 of 140)

Denver (MS)

Photo Credit: Cotgreave Collection

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Mintage: 194,750,000
Mintage Ranking for Type: (42 of 140)

San Francisco (MS)

Photo Credit: Cotgreave Collection

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Mintage: 99,000,000
Mintage Ranking for Type: (66 of 140)

1947 in history

Normal Lincoln cent production resumed without wartime alloys, using the standard bronze composition.
Jackie Robinson broke baseball's color barrier with the Brooklyn Dodgers on April 15.
The Truman Doctrine pledged U.S. support to countries resisting communist expansion.
The Marshall Plan was proposed to rebuild war-torn Western Europe with American aid.
The transistor was invented at Bell Labs, eventually shrinking radios and computers.
India and Pakistan gained independence from Britain in August amid partition violence.
Chuck Yeager broke the sound barrier in the Bell X-1 rocket plane.
The Taft-Hartley Act limited union power and allowed states to pass right-to-work laws.

1947 Lincoln cent year notes

This year's cents are not remarkably different from any other issue in this part of the series. The Philadelphia mint coins can be difficult and rather expensive in high grade, and the branch mint coins can be a slight challenge in top grades but are still readily available. As usual, the branch mint coins are known not to be fully struck in contrast to the Philadelphia mint coins, which are usually fully struck but have other quality issuie such as poor die maintenance. Many coins are known with at least small areas of grease and other obstruction of the dies.

Rolls are not difficult to obtain for any of the issues of 1947, however quality can be an issue. Hundreds of rolls were examined with quality generally on the level of 4 to 6 out of 10. This could be an issue-wide problem, or it could be that the 79 year old rolls have been picked over and are difficult to find in GEM for that reason.

Images/Mintage Mint issues and coin images for 1947

Philadelphia (MS)

Photo Credit: Cotgreave Collection

(click images above to see larger view)

Mintage: 190,555,000
Mintage Ranking for Type: (44 of 140)

Denver (MS)

Photo Credit: Cotgreave Collection

(click images above to see larger view)

Mintage: 194,750,000
Mintage Ranking for Type: (42 of 140)

San Francisco (MS)

Photo Credit: Cotgreave Collection

(click images above to see larger view)

Mintage: 99,000,000
Mintage Ranking for Type: (66 of 140)

1947 in history What else was happening that year

Normal Lincoln cent production resumed without wartime alloys, using the standard bronze composition.
Jackie Robinson broke baseball's color barrier with the Brooklyn Dodgers on April 15.
The Truman Doctrine pledged U.S. support to countries resisting communist expansion.
The Marshall Plan was proposed to rebuild war-torn Western Europe with American aid.
The transistor was invented at Bell Labs, eventually shrinking radios and computers.
India and Pakistan gained independence from Britain in August amid partition violence.
Chuck Yeager broke the sound barrier in the Bell X-1 rocket plane.
The Taft-Hartley Act limited union power and allowed states to pass right-to-work laws.

1947 cent notes Collector notes for this year's Lincoln cents

Design types Obverse and reverse engravings in use for 1947

Obverse design types (ODT)

Flat serif G obverse — ODT09 · 1922–1929 · business · 1931–1933 · business · 1935–1955 · business · 1936–1942 · proof · 1950–1955 · proof

Reverse design types (RDT)

Wheat reverse — RDT01 · 1909–1958

See the design types reference. Design types identify engraved designs; when differing designs create collectible alternatives within a year, see Lincoln cent design varieties.

Mint mark types Punch styles used on 1947 Lincoln cents

Pulled Corner-D — 1946–1953 · business
Trumpet-tail S — 1942 · business · 1945–1952 · business
Sans-serif S — 1946–1947 · business

See the mint mark types reference.

Typical values Series price guide for regular-issue 1947 cents

1947 Lincoln cents from the CopperCoins series price guide (August/September 2026 edition) — approximate values only, not offers to buy or sell. Business strikes show separate BN, RB, and RD lines where priced.

Business strike

Issue	G4	VG8	F12	VF20	EF40	AU50
1947-P BN	0.05	0.05	0.05	0.05	0.10	0.10
1947-P RB
1947-P RD
1947-D BN	0.05	0.05	0.05	0.05	0.10	0.10
1947-D RB
1947-D RD
1947-S BN	0.05	0.05	0.05	0.05	0.10	0.10
1947-S RB
1947-S RD

Issue	AU53	AU55	AU58	MS60	MS61	MS62
1947-P BN	0.15	0.15	0.15	2	2.60	2.90
1947-P RB
1947-P RD				2	3	5
1947-D BN	0.15	0.15	0.20	0.60	0.85	1.40
1947-D RB
1947-D RD						7
1947-S BN	0.15	0.20	0.20	0.40	0.45	1.15
1947-S RB
1947-S RD				2	3	5

Issue	MS63	MS64	MS65	MS66	MS67	MS68
1947-P BN	3.15	3.45	4.80	10.75
1947-P RB	3.45	4.60	10.25	19.25
1947-P RD	6	8.55	14.50	84	1,525
1947-D BN	1.55	1.75	6	12	27.50
1947-D RB	2.90	5.20	9.60	15.50	40
1947-D RD	7.85	11.25	14.50	29	290	900
1947-S BN	1.45	1.75	6	10.75	22.50
1947-S RB	2.90	5.20	8.40	14.50	30
1947-S RD	6.80	11.50	17.50	27.75	175	27,000

Issue	G4	VG8	F12	VF20	EF40	AU50
1947-P BN	0.05	0.05	0.05	0.05	0.10	0.10
1947-P RB
1947-P RD
1947-D BN	0.05	0.05	0.05	0.05	0.10	0.10
1947-D RB
1947-D RD
1947-S BN	0.05	0.05	0.05	0.05	0.10	0.10
1947-S RB
1947-S RD

Issue	AU53	AU55	AU58	MS60	MS61	MS62
1947-P BN	0.15	0.15	0.15	2	2.60	2.90
1947-P RB
1947-P RD				2	3	5
1947-D BN	0.15	0.15	0.20	0.60	0.85	1.40
1947-D RB
1947-D RD						7
1947-S BN	0.15	0.20	0.20	0.40	0.45	1.15
1947-S RB
1947-S RD				2	3	5

Issue	MS63	MS64	MS65	MS66	MS67	MS68
1947-P BN	3.15	3.45	4.80	10.75
1947-P RB	3.45	4.60	10.25	19.25
1947-P RD	6	8.55	14.50	84	1,525
1947-D BN	1.55	1.75	6	12	27.50
1947-D RB	2.90	5.20	9.60	15.50	40
1947-D RD	7.85	11.25	14.50	29	290	900
1947-S BN	1.45	1.75	6	10.75	22.50
1947-S RB	2.90	5.20	8.40	14.50	30
1947-S RD	6.80	11.50	17.50	27.75	175	27,000

Die varieties in the catalog Attributed 1947 dies by mint and variety type

Our attribution catalog for 1947—doubled dies, repunched mint marks, and related varieties documented by die number. This is specialist research beyond regular issue Lincoln cents.

Search all 1947 dies Variety value guide for 1947

Catalogued dies for 1947

Number of assigned dies in the CopperCoins catalog, by mint and variety type. Click a count to search that group.

Mint	DO	DR	MM	Total
Philadelphia (P)	8	2	N/A	10
Denver (D)	2	0	35	37
San Francisco (S)	6	0	17	23
All mints	16	2	52	70

Variety plate coin videos Roll-reveal videos that sourced plate coins for 1947 dies

Videos on our YouTube channel that show when the plate coins for these dies were found in CopperCoins roll reveal videos.

See all 33 videos

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