1922 No D penny: strong reverse, weak D and how to check yours

There is no such thing as a Philadelphia 1922 cent: the Mint's records show every cent that year was struck in Denver. A 1922 cent with no visible D is a Denver coin whose mint mark failed to strike, and the most valuable version, the No D strong reverse, comes from a single pair of dies.

By the Coin Scanner team · Updated 2026-10-13

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Why every 1922 cent is a Denver cent

The Director of the Mint's report for fiscal 1923 includes a table of coinage struck during calendar year 1922. Under one-cent bronze pieces, the Philadelphia and San Francisco columns are empty; the only entry is Denver, with $71,600 in face value, or 7,160,000 cents. NGC makes the same point: no cents were struck at Philadelphia that year. So a 1922 cent cannot be a "plain" Philadelphia coin. If the D is missing, something happened to the Denver die, or to the coin after it left the Mint.

The Lincoln Cent Resource die study explains the background: Denver was the only mint making cents in 1922 and was short of usable dies while it tried to meet its quota, which helps explain why worn and clogged dies kept striking coins.

How the D disappeared

Researchers recognize four die pairs (an obverse die and a reverse die used together) that produced 1922 cents with a weak or missing D.

• Filled dies (Die Pairs 1, 3 and 4): grease, dirt and metal debris packed into the small D cavity of the die. As the filling built up, broke out and built up again, the same die struck coins with a full D, a broken D, a weak D and finally no D at all. These die pairs also had worn reverse dies, so the wheat ears on their coins look flat.
• Polished die (Die Pair 2): one widely repeated explanation is that the two dies clashed (struck each other with no coin between them). The reverse die was replaced, and while the obverse die was being polished to remove the damage, the D was ground away completely. NGC likewise attributes the missing mint mark to excessive die polishing.

Strong reverse, weak reverse and weak D

NGC notes that collectors recognize three forms of the 1922 cent without a clear mint mark. According to the Lincoln Cent Resource summary, PCGS and NGC attribute them like this:

NGC describes the strong reverse as the coin generally considered the "true" 1922 No D, and it is the one collectors pay most for. Note that ANACS uses a different scheme and calls only Die Pair 2 coins "No D".

How to check a 1922 cent with no D

1. Confirm the date is 1922 and look closely below it for any part of a D. Even a faint outline makes it a weak D coin.
2. Compare the two 2s. On Die Pair 2 the second 2 is sharper than the first. On Die Pairs 1 and 3, the second 2 is weaker than the first.
3. Turn the coin over. A strong reverse shows clear lines in the wheat ears. A flat, mushy reverse points to Die Pairs 1, 3 or 4.
4. Look for scraping where the D should be. NGC says most fake 1922 No D cents it receives are genuine 1922-D cents with the D scratched away, and that this usually leaves obvious tool marks. A scraped or roughened spot under the date is a warning sign.
5. Watch for struck counterfeits. NGC also described a die-struck fake with weak detail everywhere, many tiny raised dots on the surface, off color and a thin raised "wire rim" at the upper left of the obverse.

What a 1922 No D can be worth

Value depends first on which of the three types you have, then on grade, strike and surface quality. As a dated reference point, NGC's January 2012 article cited its price guide at about $680 for a strong reverse in Good condition, while ordinary 1922-D cents were under $100 in all circulated grades. Market prices have changed since then, so treat those figures only as an illustration of the gap between the varieties.

Scan both sides with Coin Scanner to read the date, check the mint mark area and get an estimated value range. Telling a strong reverse from a weak reverse, or a die-polished coin from a scraped one, takes expert study, so send a promising coin to a professional grading service for attribution before you price it.

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