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Lincoln Head Cent 1909 - Present
Dispite the objections of putting a historical figure on a U.S. coin, President
Theodore Roosevelt ask designer Victor D. Brenner to come up with a decign to place
President Lincoln on the one cent coin. Brenners design was timed to be introduced
in 1909 to honor the nation's 16th president on his 100th birthday. The first coins
struck (June to Aug. 5) had the initials v.d.b. at six o'clock on the reverse side
and for the first time on the cent, the motto IN GOD WE TRUST at 12 o'clock on the
obverse. The controversy over Lincoln's portrait soon died away; most Americans
found the design appealing.
Vital Stats.
Designer: Victor David Brenner
Diameter: 19 millimeters
Content: 95% Copper 5% Tin/Zinc
Weight: 3.11 grams
Edge: Plain
Type 1 MINTAGE
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Type 1
Wheat Reverse (1909 - 1942)
V.D.B. Cent Example
Negative newspaper coverage did however, cause the designers initials to be removed
that August. Only 484,000 cents were minted in San Francisco with the initials, and
the 1909-S V.D.B. cent is the highest valued coin in the Lincoln series. The initials
were restored to the obverse of the coin in 1918 at the left lower part of the truncation,
where they still appear on all to this date.
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Vital Stats.
Designer: Victor David Brenner
Diameter: 19 mm
Content: 100% steel thin zinc coating
Weight: 2.7 grams
Edge: Plain
| Typed 2 MINTAGE |
Year/
Mint | Circulation
Strikes |
| 1943 | 684,628,670 |
| 1943 D | 217,660,000 |
| 1943 S | 191,550,000 |
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Type 2
Zink over Steel (1943)
During World War II zinc-coated steel plachets replaced the copper plachets normally
used. The zinc, unfortunatly, quickly deteriorates in use and the public complained
the coin was easily confused with dimes. An error was made that year when several
1943 cents were struck using copper plachets. One speciman of the 1943-D sold in
2010 for $1.7 million. Copper Plachets were resumed the next year.
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Type 1 MINTAGE (Resumed)
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Type 1
Resumed (1944 - 1958)
View 1955 ONE CENT - Doubled Die 
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in 1959 to mark the 150th anniversary of Lincoln's birth, the Lincoln Memorial reverse was introduced .
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Vital Stats.
Designer: Frank Gasparro 1959 - 1982
Composition: copper and zinc
Weight: 3.11 grams
Diameter: 19 mm
Edge: Plain
1982 Composition: copper-plated zinc
Weight: 2.5 grams
Type 3 MINTAGE
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Type 3
Memorial Reverse (1959 - 2009)
View 1972 Double Die Cent
View 1998-S Close 'AM' one cent
View 2001 Unplated cent Obverse
View 2001 Unplated cent Reverse
View 2001 Off Center Strike cent Obverse
View 2001 Off Center Strike cent Reverse
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In 2009 to recognize the bicentennial of Lincoln's birth and the 100th anniversary
of the Lincoln cent, the United States Mint to issue four different Lincoln cent reverses.
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Lincoln Bicentennial
Mintage
Type 4
Kentucky Childhood
(Log Cabin) |
| 2009 | 284,800,000 |
| 2009 D | 350,000,000 |
| 2009 S | 0 |
Type 5
Indiana (Formative)
Years |
| 2009 | 376,000,000 |
| 2009 D | 363,600,000 |
| 2009 S | 0 |
Type 6
Professional Life
in Illinois |
| 2009 | 316,000,000 |
| 2009 D | 336,000,000 |
| 2009 S | 0 |
Type 7
Presidency |
| 2009 | 129,600,000 |
| 2009 D | 198,000,000 |
| 2009 S | 0 |
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Lincoln Bicentennial
Obverse / Kentucky Childhood
.png)
Formative Years / Professional Life
 Years.png)
The Presidency
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Starting in 2010 a new reverse symbolic of Lincoln's preservation of the union.
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| Typed 8 MINTAGE |
Year/
Mint | Circulation
Strikes |
| 2010 | 1.963.630,000 |
| 2010 D | 2,047,200,000 |
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Type 8
Preservation Shield (2010 - )
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U.S. Lincoln Head Cents
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