Abraham Lincoln is considered one of America’s most distinguished presidents and the history of Lincoln cents is integral to the man’s legacy. He is known for his choices surrounding the American Civil War (1861-1865) and the issue of slavery in the country. His early death by assassination has contributed to keeping President Lincoln in the public eye for over a century.
The introduction of the Lincoln cent in 1909 to commemorate the century since Abe’s birth marked a turn in the history of American coin making. These new pennies replaced the "Indian Head" cents that had long been produced.
Until the introduction of the Lincoln one penny piece (also referred to as the Lincoln cent, the wheat penny and the Lincoln wheat penny) there had never been a portrait of a US Presdient on an American coin in general circulation. For many it was considered a vulgar thing to do and a mark of disrespect to the person portrayed. But Lincoln, in so many ways, broke the mold on American social thought and traditions that for him to be the first president to appear on a general circulation portraiture coin seemed appropriate.
Many people think the wheat design on the reverse side of the penny is what makes it important, not realizing that the portrait itself is the mark of historic change. Lincoln’s image on the Lincoln cent was fashioned from a work from then famed sculptor Victor David Brenner and based on a statue of the president created a few years earlier.
The now familiar phrase “in God We Trust” on American coinage was included for the first time on a Lincoln cent coin. The first portraiture coin was placed in public circulation on August 2, 1909. Coins from August 1909 are of course the most valuable (dependent upon condition).
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A feature of early Lincoln pennies is the initials of the sculptor. Without express permission from the US Mint, Brenner inscribed his initials "V. D. B." rather prominently on the bottom of the reverse side between the bases of the wheat sheaths. After less than half a million coins were produced at the San Francisco Mint, his initials were removed from subsequent coins. Thus, the "1909-S VDB" coin is among the most valuable of all Lincoln Cents. (The Philadelphia Mint did not discontinue the initials until many more had been stamped.) A much smaller set of initials were restored on the obverse at the base of the Lincoln bust in 1918.
In February, 1959, the composition and details of the Lincoln penny were altered making the wheat design a popular collector’s piece. The reverse side now featured The Lincoln Memorial. Indeed after the wheat design was removed from the coin, collectors began conserving the coins, adding to a shortage of Lincoln pennies in public circulation.
In 1922 at the Denver Mint, a small number of coins were produced after the "D" on the die had broken off. These 1922 "Plain" coins are very rare and valuable.
Another important Lincoln cent coin is the 1955 double die piece. Only 20,000 of these coins were released. They featured a double imprint of the side featuring Lincoln’s portrait creating a blurred look. Like the many historic changes caused by the introduction of the Lincoln cents, the 1955 penny coin created a renewed interest in numismatics, or coin collecting, among the general public.
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