Lincoln Wheat Penny: The Lincoln Wheat Penny was the first U.S. cent to feature a president, and it’s one of the most popular coins in America.
Although only a one-cent piece, it is much more than a coin; it’s a classic American story that highlights an important period in the U.S. peopling of the obverse and reverse designs was also canceled.
Lincoln Wheat Penny: Origins and Design
The Lincoln Wheat Penny owes its existence to the desire of President Theodore Roosevelt to beautify American coinage.
In 1909, the US Mint replaced the Indian Head cent with a new design portraying the 16th president, to coincide with the 100-year anniversary of Lincoln’s birth. The move was the first time an image of an American president was on a U.S. coin in regular circulation.
The iconic obverse portrait of Lincoln was created by sculptor Victor David Brenner, and the design has more or less remained the same for over 110 years.
The reverse had two wheat stalks entwined, framing the words “ONE CENT” and “UNITED STATES OF AMERICA” — all of this done in a graceful, uncluttered manner and presented in elegant design, which is why it became known colloquially as the “Wheat Penny.
Historical Significance
The Lincoln cent was immediately controversial when Brenner’s B.V.D. initials appeared on the reverse. Public outcry over this perceived “self-advertising” resulted in their being pulled after only a few days of production and giving us the famous 1909-S-VDB variety that would be one of the most desirable coins in American numismatic history.
While in production the Wheat Penny also saw some of the most significant events in history that occurred during the 20th century: 2 World Wars, both the Great Depression and one of the greatest booming economic eras (1946 to 1964) not to mention the economy of the 20th century so far, and the start of the Cold War among other things.
Shortages caused by World War II necessitated the production of the 1943 Steel Cent, a zinc-coated steel coin that provides tangible evidence of the nation’s conservation effort during the war years.
Key Dates and Rarities
Some dates in the Wheat Penny series are worth a substantial amount to collectors:
1909-S V.D.B.: A first-year rarity with only 484,000 struck, this also is the key date of the series. Even in poor condition, such coins tend to bring in hundreds of dollars, while uncirculated examples can fetch thousands.
1914-D: With a mintage of just 1.1 million pieces, those struck at the Denver Mint are very scarce, especially in high grades.
1922 Plain: No cents were coined in Philadelphia, but some Denver coins were struck with overused dies without the “D” mintmark, a significant variety.
1931-S: A low-mintage issue and the vast majority of the 866,000 Kennedy half dollars struck in the depths of the Depression have been lost or excessively worn.
The 1943 Bronze Wheat Penny is the most famous error coin in the Lincoln Wheats series. In the war-effort years, when the Mint turned to inexpensive steel for war conservation, a number of copper blank planchets from 1942 made it into the presses, and valuable albeit rare copper cents struck in a year when all cents should have been steel. Hundreds of thousands of dollars is what some of these errors have sold for at auction.
Composition and Production
From 1909 until 1942, the Lincoln cent was comprised of 95% copper and 5% tin and zinc, resulting in a unique reddish-bronze when untarnished new.
The Steel Cent of 1943 was an interregnum, until the Mint returned to the bronze composition, recycled from shell casings, of 1944-1946.
The classic 95% copper / 5% tin and zinc alloy was restored, after attempts at the zinc coating were deemed unsatisfactory.
The use of copper-coated zinc had been considered as early as 1960, but this was not adopted until the 1982 production of copper-coated zinc Lincoln cents.
From 1947–1958, the so-called wheat stalks reverse (Wheat back) was used, with two ears of wheat along the edges.
Collecting Appeal
There are a few reasons that add to the longevity of collector allure that surrounds the Wheat Penny.
Availability: Wheat Pennies circulated easily through the past several decades and were among the few vintage coin series which many Americans would actually find in loose change.
Completable Series: Patients collectors can close in almost complete date-and-mintmark sets without having to spend thousands for each coin (though the series is nontheless difficult with key dates).
Historical Link: These coins’ extended time in production connects collectors to almost half a century of history in America.
Lincoln Wheat Penny:
The Lincoln Memorial Issue (1959-2008) The replacement of the Wheat reverse with the Lincoln Memorial design in 1959 brought the era of classic American coinage to a close.
Today, a Wheat Penny is a connected thread to the past; a now-defunct currency that circulated through the hands of so many during the Great Depression and both World Wars.
The Wheat Penny could be considered an immortal icon of the late days of the Lincoln cent, whose fate is uncertain as prices rise and purchasing power drops.
It’s a classic, variedly busy coin with a long history; and it is certain to continue to please both coin collectors and history buffs for generations.
