1931-S Key Date Wheat Penny

The 1931-S wheat penny is a key date for wheat pennies, meaning it is more collectible and rare than most wheat pennies. It would be an important penny to have in any wheat penny collection.

The 1931-S penny had an unusually low mintage of 866,000 pennies. Most of the 1931-s pennies were less struck in appearance when compared to pennies from other years, but the 1931-s cent was a hot item.

A gentleman named Maurice Scharlack obtained 200,000 of the 1931-S pennies through banking channels for his personal collection. This was nearly one quarter of the entire mintage. He paid face value for the pennies, but $2000 was a large amount at the time, especially during the Great Depression. Because of his hoarde, you would expect there to be many 1931-S pennies in high grade condition. Unfortunately, many of the coins were stored in less than ideal conditions such as canvas bags and paper rolls. As a result, many of them appeared mottled and were dipped in a chemical solution to try to remove the unattractive tone. This chemical treatment had a detrimental effect on the overall grade of the pennies, so gem condition 1931-S pennies are really scarce.

The 1931-S wheat penny is counterfeited from time to time, so be aware. Usually it is faked by altering the last digit of the date on a 1936-S or 1937-S coin to make it look like a 1. Another way it is sometimes faked is to remove the "S" mint mark from another year of penny and then attaching it just below the date of a 1931 Philadelphia penny that has no mint mark.

If you think you have a 1931-S key date wheat penny, you should have it examined for authenticity by an expert to have it certified as authentic.



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