Today in History—August 2: The Lincoln Penny Is Introduced

Written by

Tracy Grant

Fact-checked by

Britannica Editors

History

The year 1909 was a big one for Abraham Lincoln, with the U.S. eager to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the birth of the “Great Emancipator.” There were proclamations, parades, and memorial dedications starting in February, the president’s birth month, but perhaps the most enduring commemoration of Lincoln didn’t come until this day, when the very first pennies featuring Lincoln’s likeness were circulated—with great fanfare.

Lines formed at banks, which limited the number of pennies that could be bought. And enterprising newsboys who stood in those lines sold three pennies for a nickel, scoring a nice profit for their time.

Almost immediately, however, there was controversy surrounding the currency.

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A bit of historical background here: Pres. Theodore Roosevelt wasn’t exactly a fan of U.S. currency at the turn of the 20th century, saying in 1904 that U.S. coins demonstrated “atrocious hideousness.” He worked with artist Augustus Saint-Gaudens to rework a number of coins, but Saint-Gaudens died before he could turn his attention to the penny.

In the meantime, Roosevelt was sitting for an artist who was creating a medal commemorating the building of the Panama Canal. The two got to talking, and the artist showed Roosevelt a Lincoln plaque he had made. Roosevelt was impressed.

That artist was Victor David Brenner, and for about two years he worked on the coin that featured Lincoln in profile on the obverse and two shafts of wheat on the reverse.

Fun Fact

The Lincoln penny was the first widely circulated U.S. coin to feature a real person.

Those first pennies also featured “V.D.B.,” Brenner’s initials, in teeny-tiny letters, centered on the bottom reverse side of the coin. But people noticed and complained that the penny had become an ad for the artist. So Treasury Secretary Franklin MacVeagh ordered the minting of pennies to be stopped—just days after they went into circulation—and new ones to be made without the offensive initials. (That move, of course, led to hoarding of the original pennies, which to this day are valuable.)

In 1918 Brenner’s initials were quietly restored, positioned in even tinier lettering, just under Lincoln’s shoulder, where they stayed until the last Lincoln penny was minted on November 12, 2025.

For his part, Brenner, while furious about his initials being removed, remained enormously proud of his work, saying, “I would rather have Lincoln’s face on the penny than on a $20 gold piece.”

Today in History—August 2: The Lincoln Penny Is Introduced

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