1909 Lincoln penny story

[David Lockmiller]

President Theodore Roosevelt, who considered Lincoln the savior of the Union, the greatest Republican president and also considered himself Lincoln's political heir, ordered the new Lincoln penny to be based on Victor David Brenner's (VDB’s) work and that it be produced to commemorate Lincoln's 100th birthday in 1909.

The likeness of President Lincoln on the obverse of the coin is an adaptation of a plaque Brenner executed several years earlier and which had come to the attention of President Roosevelt in New York. Roosevelt had learned of Brenner's talents in a settlement house on New York City's Lower East Side and was immediately impressed with the bas-relief that Brenner had made of Lincoln, based on the early Civil War era photographer, Mathew Brady's photograph. Brenner's design for the 1909 Lincoln penny was picked by President Theodore Roosevelt, who had earlier posed for him in New York.

Brenner's enduring Lincoln coin design, the obverse of which is the longest-running design in United States Mint history, is perhaps the most reproduced piece of art in world history.

Interesting current historical note: A 1909 VDB US cent was mounted on the calibration target on the Mars Curiosity rover. This is a nod to the rover's geologic mission and the common practice by geologists including a coin in photographs to document the size of objects.

Lincoln Bicentennial One Cent Program

In 2009, the United States Mint issued four different pennies as part of the Lincoln Bicentennial One Cent Program. The program recognized not only of the 200th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln’s birth, but also the 100th anniversary of the Lincoln cent, first appearing in 1909. The themes on the reverses represent the four major aspects of Lincoln’s life:

• Birth and Early Childhood in Kentucky (1809-1816)
• Formative Years in Indiana (1816-1830)
• Professional Life in Illinois (1830-1861)
• Presidency in Washington, D.C. (1861-1865)

The circulating version of these coins uses the same metal content as other modern cents (2.5 percent copper, the rest zinc). The uncirculated version contains the metals used in the original 1909 cent (95 percent copper, 5 percent tin and zinc).

• The design on the back of the one-cent coin changed to represent the unity of the states (E PLURIBUS UNUM), which President Lincoln worked so hard to restore and preserve.