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.

Lincoln Wheat

Cent Mintage

Year Philadelphia San Francisco Denver PROOFS
1909 VDB 27,995,000 484,000 *1194
1909 72,702,618 1,825,000 *2352
1910 146,801,218 6,045,000 *4083
1911 101,177,787 4,026,000 12,672,000 *2411
1912 68,153,060 4,431,000 10,411,000 *2145
1913 76,532,352 6,101,000 15,804,000 *2848
1914 75,238,432 4,137,000 1,193,000 *1365
1915 29,092,120 4,833,000 22,050,000 *1050
1916 131,832,627 22,510,000 35,956,000 *1050
1917 196,429,785 32,620,000 55,120,000 *1 Struck Illegally
1918 288,104,634 34,680,000 47,830,000
1919 392,021,000 139,760,000 57,154,000
1920 310,165,000 46,220,000 49,280,000
1921 39,157,000 15,274,000
1922 7,160,000
1923 74,723,000 8,700,000
1924 75,178,000 11,696,000 2,520,000
1925 139,949,000 22,580,000 22,580,000
1926 157,088,000 4,550,000 28,020,000
1927 144,440,000 14,276,000 27,170,000
1928 134,116,000 17,266,000 31,170,000
1929 185,262,000 50,148,000 41,730,000
1930 157,415,000 24,286,000 40,100,000
1931 19,396,000 866,000 4,480,000
1932 9,062,000 10,500,000
1933 14,360,000 6,200,000