2.5 g (current composition). Bronze cents from 1909 to 1982 are 3.11 g; wartime steel cents are 2.7 g
Diameter
19.05 mm (0.750 in)
Edge
Plain
Composition
1909–1942, 1944–1982: 95% copper, remainder tin or zinc 1943: zinc-plated steel 1982–present: copper-plated zinc (97.5% Zn, 2.5% Cu)
Years of minting
1909–present
Mint marks
P (2017 only), D, S, W (2019 only). Under date on obverse. No mint marks used from 1965 to 1967, in any year except 2017 at the Philadelphia Mint, or in any year except 2019 at the West Point Mint.
Obverse
Design
Abraham Lincoln
Designer
Victor D. Brenner
Design date
1909 (before 1918 omitting VDB on the cutoff of the bust; modified in 2010)
Reverse
Design
Union shield
Designer
Lyndall Bass
Design date
2010
The Lincoln cent (sometimes called the Lincoln penny) 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 (thus "wheat pennies", struck 1909–1958). The coin has seen several reverse, or tails, designs and now bears one by Lyndall Bass depicting a Union shield. All coins struck by the United States government with a value of 1⁄100 of a dollar are called cents because the United States has always minted coins using decimals. The penny nickname is a carryover from the coins struck in England, which went to decimals for coins in 1971.
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 Saint-Gaudens died in August 1907 before submitting additional designs for the cent. 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. It 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. Nevertheless, Brenner's design was eventually approved, and the new coins were issued to great public interest on August 2, 1909.
Brenner's initials (VDB), on the reverse at its base, were deemed too prominent once the coins were issued, and were removed within days of the release. The initials were restored, this time smaller, on Lincoln's shoulder, in 1918. 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 mint then reverted to 95% copper until 1982, when inflation made copper too expensive and the composition was changed to zinc with an outer copper layer. Brenner's wheat reverse was replaced in 1959 by a depiction of the Lincoln Memorial designed by Frank Gasparro, for the sesquicentennial of his birth year. The Lincoln Memorial reverse was itself replaced in 2009 by four commemorative designs marking the bicentennial of Lincoln's birth. Beginning in 2010, Bass's shield design was coined.
The Lincolncent (sometimes called the Lincoln penny) is a one-cent coin that has been struck by the United States Mint since 1909. The obverse or heads...
Below are the mintage figures for the Lincolncent. The following mint marks indicate which mint the coin was made at (parentheses indicate a lack of a...
wartime cent, steel war penny, zinc cent and steelie. The 1943 steel cent features the same Victor David Brenner design for the Lincolncent which had...
engraver, and medalist known primarily as the designer of the United States LincolnCent. Brenner was born to Jewish parents in Shavel, Lithuania, Russian Empire...
the cent and experimenting with compositions other than pure copper. The result was the Flying Eagle cent, the same diameter as the later Lincolncent but...
the direct result of die polishing and the removal of a leg. The 1970 Lincolncent with the raised 7 is also the result of die polishing. Before 1990, all...
The 1974 aluminum cent was a one-cent coin proposed by the United States Mint in 1973. It was composed of an alloy of aluminum and trace metals, and it...
coins. Wikimedia Commons has media related to United States cents. US LincolnCent by year and type - histories, photos, and more LincolnCent Pictures...
in ONE CENT. Therefore, authentication is strongly recommended for this variety. "1955-D 1C Doubled Die Obverse, RD (Regular Strike) LincolnCent (Wheat...
The Lincoln Memorial is a U.S. national memorial that honors the 16th president of the United States, Abraham Lincoln. An example of neoclassicism, it...
California Lincoln sheep Lincoln (grape) or Catawba grape Lincoln biscuit Lincolncent, U.S. coinage Lincoln green, a dyed woollen cloth Lincoln Way (San...
regular-issue coin except the cent, which, with the exception of 2017 LincolnCents, still bears no P mintmark. The circulating cents struck in the 1980s at...
rim Lincolncent dies. One of the compositions tested, zinc-coated steel, was chosen for the 1943 cent. Silver center cent Ring cent 1943 steel cent 1974...
type collectors consider the 1909 "V.D.B." Lincolncent to be different from the 1909 no-"V.D.B." Lincolncent (where the designer's initials, V.D.B., were...
for 2009, which included one each of the 4 different LincolnCent designs and a commemorative Lincoln Silver Dollar, presented in special packaging. Other...
collectors of the Lincolncent series, the 1909-S VDB LincolnCent is the rarest and most expensive of cents. The 1909-S VDB Lincolncent is considered to...
Washington, D.C. The Lincolncent, an American coin portraying Lincoln Biography portal American Civil War portal United States portal Lincoln (film) from 2012...
result of these messages. Bowers estimated in 1960 that 90 to 95% of the Lincolncents sold in the marketplace dated 1910 through the late 1920s were brilliant...
Chain cent Wreath cent Liberty Cap large cent Draped Bust Indian Head centLincolncent Garrett, Jeff; Bowers, Q. David; Bresset, Kenneth (2018). A Guide...
the Susan B. Anthony Dollars starting 1979. From 1980 until 2017, the Lincolncent was the only coin that did not always have a mint mark, using a "D" when...
silver of any U.S. mint facility, and for 12 years produced circulating Lincolncents. It has since minted mostly commemorative coins and stored gold. It...
exception of the Bicentennial issues of 1975–1976), the Lincoln Memorial reverse of the cent (minted from 1959 to 2008), and the reverse of the Kennedy...
Santa Fe, New Mexico. She is the designer of the current reverse of the Lincolncent, which has been in use since 2010. Bass was born in North Carolina. She...
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