But Barber claimed that it was very difficult technically to do so. Barber's claim was belied by the addition of the initials to the base of Lincoln's shoulder in shortly after Barber's death. At the time, however, it was decided that the best and most expedient solution was to remove the V. Engravers at the Mint removed the V.
The Mint suspended new penny production until Brenner's initials were removed. Treasury Secretary Franklin MacVeagh made the interesting decision to let the public in on the impending change to the new penny, and the predictable result was that people began hoarding the existing Lincoln Cents. This hoarding of pennies further exacerbating the already short supply. Rumors began to circulate that the government was recalling the pennies with the V.
The media vilified poor Victor David Brenner as being arrogant and vain, even though it was U. Mint Chief Engraver Charles Barber who determined the size and placement of these initials. By August 12, , artists at the Mint prepared a new set of working coin dies without the V. The new issue of pennies soon followed, creating the first major die variety of the Lincoln Cent series.
It is worth noting that there are six distinct types of U. Although there are some minor die varieties among the various year Lincoln pennies, the V.
In , artists at the Mint restored the V. They are located at the base of Lincoln's bust in tiny letters on the portion of the bust that angles downward near the bottom. The next major event in the Lincoln Cent saga is the change of coin metals made in and The United States was fighting in the massive World War II, facing enemies on two major fronts Japan and Europe and the government determined that it needed all the copper and tin it could get its hands on to make munitions for the war effort.
In , the U. Mint took all but a trace of tin out of the cent alloy, which technically changed the metal from bronze to brass. Because the Mint had a supply of existing bronze coining strip already prepared, they made Lincoln pennies of from both alloys. By late , the situation had become extreme enough that it was decided to remove all copper from the Lincoln Cents beginning in Following some hasty experimentation, the U.
Mint decided to make the pennies from an alternative alloy consisting of steel coated with a thin layer of zinc. This change resulted in a shiny silver penny that was easily confused with a dime when new, and that turned into a corroded piece of junk once the thin zinc coating wore off.
Furthermore, the pennies were useless in most vending machines because the anti-fraud technology of the time saw the magnetic steel pennies as slugs.
The steel pennies weren't very popular, and in the Mint was forced to resume making brass-alloy pennies, wartime or not.
The government denied that it would recall the steel cents hoping to prevent further penny shortages and hoarding. After the war, the Treasury Department quietly directed the banks to remove the steel cents from circulation whenever they encountered them.
There are varying stories regarding the ultimate disposition of the 68 million recovered steel pennies. One tale has the government dumping them all into the Pacific Ocean, but the most reliable accounts state that they were melted down at the behest of the Mint. One of the more enduring myths about the Lincoln Cent is that the postwar pennies were all made from melted bullets, artillery shells, and other copper-based military findings.
Although the U. Nonetheless, some spent shell casings eventually did make their way to the Mint, which contributed to the brass coining alloy used for Lincoln Cents in through The counter argument to this was that Lincoln was the common people's president; therefore the penny was the appropriate choice. The actual photographer was Anthony Berger.
This is the profile Brenner chose for the penny. President Theodore Roosevelt approved his choice. The reverse design of the Lincoln cent has been unveiled by United States Mint. This is not a commercial website. None of the photographs and artwork exhibited herein are being sold by the webmaster. The design featured the Lincoln Memorial on the reverse side of the coin and is the most commonly recognized penny today.
Within the last two years, there has been an explosion of new penny designs being minted. In alone, four different designs to commemorate the bicentennial birthday of President Lincoln were released. The first design, Issue 1, features a Log Cabin on the reserve side. It represents the birth and early childhood years of Lincoln in Kentucky. Issue 2 portrays Lincoln reading a book while sitting on a recently split rail.
At the start of , the penny underwent its latest change. To honor the sesquicentennial election victory of President Lincoln, the Union Shield was added to the reverse side of the penny, taking the place of the Lincoln Memorial.
About the Mint Circulating Coins U. Penny Lincoln Penny Obverse. Fun Fact! During the colonial period, people used a mixture of coins from other countries. A popular coin was the British penny, which was the smallest part of the British pound coin.
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