The Lincoln cent is a one-cent coin that has been struck by the United States Mint since 1909. The obverse or heads side was designed by Victor David Brenner, as was the original reverse, depicting two stalks of wheat. The coin has seen several reverse, or tails, designs and now bears one by Lyndall Bass depicting a Union shield. The penny nickname is a carryover from the coins struck in England, which went to decimals for coins in 1971.
About Lincoln cent in brief
The Lincoln cent is a one-cent coin that has been struck by the United States Mint since 1909. The obverse or heads side was designed by Victor David Brenner, as was the original reverse, depicting two stalks of wheat. The coin has seen several reverse, or tails, designs and now bears one by Lyndall Bass depicting a Union shield. Originally struck in 95% copper, the cent coin was changed for one year to zinc-coated steel in 1943 as copper was needed to aid in the war effort. The Lincoln Memorial reverse was itself replaced in 2009 by four commemorative designs marking the bicentennial of Lincoln’s birth. The penny nickname is a carryover from the coins struck in England, which went to decimals for coins in 1971. In 1904, President Theodore Roosevelt wrote to his Secretary of the Treasury, Leslie Mortier Shaw, complaining that U.S. coinage lacked artistic merit, and enquiring if it would be possible to engage a private artist to prepare new coin designs. In 1905, sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens was hired by the Mint to redesign the cent and the four gold coins, which did not require congressional approval. Two of Saint- Gaudens’s proposed designs for the cent were eventually adapted for the gold pieces, but he died in August 1907 before submitting additional designs. By 1908, many citizens had written to the Treasury Department, proposing a large Lincoln coin, and Roosevelt was interested in honoring fellow Republican Lincoln. Many writers had suggested a half dollar, but then a lame duck in office was reluctant to involve his office in the issue.
In 1908, the U. S. Mint issued the Lincoln cent, which was the first widely circulating design of a U. s. president on a coin, an idea that had been seen as too monarchical in the past, namely by George Washington. In January 1909, the Mint engaged Brenner to design a cent depicting the late president Abraham Lincoln, 1909 being the centennial year of his birth. In 1959, Brenner’s wheat reverse was replaced in 1959 by a depiction of the Lincoln Memorial designed by Frank Gasparro. In 1982, when inflation made copper too expensive and the composition was changed to zinc with an outer copper layer, the mint then reverted to95% copper until 1982. The cent coin is one of the few coins to feature an actual person on the reverse, as Lincoln had been assassinated in 1892 and could not yet be altered without congressional approval, which would have been a break with previous American numismatic tradition. In May 1907, Roosevelt instructed that the Indian design be developed for the eagles instead. As the designs of those pieces had remained the same for 25 years, they could be changed without an act of Congress. In February 1908, Roosevelt suggested the addition of a Native American war bonnet, stating, “I don’t see why we should not have a conventional head-dress of purely American type for the Liberty figure.”
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This page is based on the article Lincoln cent published in Wikipedia (as of Dec. 02, 2020) and was automatically summarized using artificial intelligence.
