The New United States Penny

In 1905, President Theodore Roosevelt commissioned American sculptor and artist, Augustus Saint-Gaudens, to prepare designs for a new cent coin. Saint-Gaudens' design for the front of the coin featured a flying eagle motif. However, this design was scrapped in favor of a head of Victory in profile wearing an Indian headdress. Saint-Gaudens and Roosevelt liked this design so much that they used it instead on the $10 coin in 1907 instead. Saint-Gaudens died before completing a penny design.

In 1909, Victor David Brenner made the famous bust of Lincoln based on a photograph taken by Anthony Berger at Mathew Brady's Washington photographic studio on February 09, 1864. Lincoln was chosen as the subject for the new penny since 1909 was the centennial of his birth> Brenner's design was used for the new penny.

Until the appearance of Brenner's design, no person (living or dead) had ever appeared on a U.S. coin made for general circulation to the public.

The early versions of the Lincoln Cent featured Brenner's initials (V.D.B.) near the bottom of the back of the coin. This caused quite a stir and was considered offensive to some and the initials were removed later in 1909. In 1918, the initials re-appeared, this time hidden on the truncation of Lincoln's bust on the front of the coin. (That's a collector's tip for you.)

The year 2009 was chosen as the date for the new penny or cent to commemorate the 200th anniversary of his birth, and the 100th anniversary of the first Lincoln coin.

This US Mint has revealed the new redesign and they depict four scenes from Abraham Lincoln's life covering the following time periods:

• 1809 to 1816 depicting Lincoln's birth and childhood in Kentucky (launched Feb 12, 2009 in Hogdenville, Kentucky)
• 1816 to 1830 depicting Lincoln's formative years in Indiana (launched May 14, 2009 in Lincoln City, Indiana)
• 1830 to 1861 depicting Lincoln's professional life in Illinois (scheduled to be launched Aug 13, 2009)
• 1861 to 1865 depicting Lincoln's presidential years in Washington, DC (scheduled to be launched Nov 12, 2009)

The coins are being produced in "P" (Philadelphia) and "D"(Denver) versions, with circulating metal content. They are also producing special, copper-based (the original 1909 metal content) versions of the "P" and "D" coins for the 2009 Uncirculated Proof Sets. There will also be a special "S" (San Francisco) version of the copper cent made for the 2009 Silver Proof Set. Five of each design, for a total of twenty coins.