The History of the Wheat Pennies

Lincoln wheat cents were made 1909 to 1958.

The Lincoln wheat penny is a one-cent U.S. bronze coin produced in 1909 through 1958. The coin's obverse and reverse both were designed by Victor David Brenner, a prominent American sculptor and medalist, to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln's birth. These coins were produced at the Philadelphia, Denver and San Francisco mints. The Lincoln cent is among the most popular and widely recognized U.S. coins, according to the dealers at Lincolnwheat.com, with 25.5 billion wheat cents minted during the coin's 49-year production run.

Design Features

President Lincoln was the first real person to be honored on a regular-issue U.S. coin. Previously, U.S. coin obverses bore symbolic representations of Lady Liberty. The obverse featured Brenner's profile view of Lincoln, flanked by the "Liberty" motto and the year date, with "In God We Trust" above the portrait. The coins are known as wheat cents or "wheaties" because Brenner's reverse design featured two ears of ripe wheat flanking the "One Cent" denomination and the "United States of America" and "E Pluribus Unum" legends. The Lincoln cent also was the first U.S. cent to bear the "In God We Trust" motto.

VDB Controversy

The first coins minted in 1909 displayed the designer's initials VDB below the wheat ears, said Lincolnwheat.com, but there was a public outcry from people who considered it inappropriate to give the designer's initials a prominent position on a coin meant to honor Lincoln, and the initials were removed early in the 1909 production run. This action created the scarcest Lincoln cent, the 1909-S VDB, minted in San Francisco with only 484,000 coins made, according to Lincolnwheat. By contrast, the Philadelphia Mint made 28 million 1909 VDB cents. The U.S. mints also made 74 million 1909 cents without the VDB initials. Brenner's initials were restored in 1918 in much smaller size on the obverse below Lincoln's shoulder.

Other Rare Lincolns

After the 1909-S VDB, the next scarcest regular-production Lincoln wheat cent is the 1914-D, with just 1.19 million made at the Denver Mint. Two other rare Lincoln wheat cents were the result of die errors. In 1922, a die error at the Denver Mint resulted in some cents lacking the "D" mint mark. The absence of a mint mark made these coins appear to be a Philadelphia Mint issue, but no cents were made in 1922 at Philadelphia. This rare error is the 1922 Plain cent. The other rare die-error wheat cent was made in 1955 at the Philadelphia Mint. A die-cutting error resulted in a cent with a doubled obverse image that resembled a TV image with ghosting. This error is called the 1955 doubled die cent.

Wartime Wheat Cents

During World War II, copper was needed for war production and supplies for civilian use were very tight. To save copper for vital war needs, according to LincolnCents.net, the U.S. Mint in 1943 produced Lincoln wheat cents from zinc-coated steel. In 1944, the mint salvaged brass shell cases for cent production. This metal gave the cents produced in 1944 and 1945 a slight yellowish tint. The prewar bronze composition resumed in 1946.

End of Wheat Cents

The wheat cent's last issue was in 1958. The reverse was redesigned for the 150th anniversary of Lincoln's birth in 1959, with an image of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., replacing the wheat ears reverse, according to LincolnCents.net. The Lincoln Memorial reverse was designed by Frank Gasparro, an assistant engraver of the U.S. Mint. The Lincoln Memorial reverse stayed in use through 2008.

More Reverse Changes

For 2009, the cent bore four different reverse designs marking the bicentennial of Lincoln's birth. For 2010 and future years, the cent bears a new reverse design featuring the Union Shield, emblematic of Lincoln's preservation of the United States as a single unified country. It was designed by Lyndal Bass and engraved by Joseph Menna, with both artists' initials appearing on the reverse. Through all the reverse changes, says LincolnCents.net, the Lincoln obverse has remained the same, making it the longest-used design for any regular-issue U.S. coin.

References

• Lincoln Wheat: Welcome to Lincoln Wheat
• Lincoln Cents: 1943 Lincoln Steel Cent