Lincoln Head Small Cent
1909 VDB
1909 to 1958 Wheat Heads
1943 Steel
1959 to present Memorial

	The year 1909 was the 100th birthday of Abraham Lincoln and President Roosevelt pressed for a change in the copper penny design, to memorialize Lincoln. The Lincoln Head cent was designed by Victor D. Brenner and he placed his initials on the reverse side of the coin at the bottom. However, these initials were removed after only a few months of production and were not reinstated until 1918. Since only about 484,000 of these coins were minted in San Francisco with the initials, this issue has become the most rare and the most valuable of all the Lincoln cents. At two different times I have owned 1909 S VDB Lincoln pennies but have since sold both. The reverse side of the Lincoln cent was originally composed of the words ONE CENT - UNITED STATES OF AMERICA flanked by wheat sheaves and is often called the Wheat Ear cent. This design can be seen on the revese side of the 1943 issue below, which was made of steel-coated zinc, to save copper for the war effort.
This coin is a 1960 proof, taken from a proof set.		the reverse of the coin at left.
This coin was bought for the D case and is stored there. ______________________________________________________________ In 1959 the reverse side of the Lincoln cent was changed to picture the Lincoln memorial building in Washington, D.C. The occasion was the 150th anniversary of Lincoln’s birth and the 50th anniversary of the coin.	This design remains in effect today, although the composition of the coin is no longer mostly copper. From 1909 until 1982 the coin was composed of 95% copper (except for the 1943 issue shown below and right)	This is the reverse of the coin at left. The seller claimed it is uncirculated. ______________________________________________________________ with the remainder varying from a combination of tin and zinc to just zinc. But since 1981, the coin has been made of a zinc core coated with copper leaving only the nickel as the sole remaining solid metal coin made in the Unites States, except for special issues minted for collectors only.
This penny is uncirculated and is worth about $0.85		This one is also uncirculated and is worth about $2.
This coin is certified by NGC and graded to be VF 30. It is stored in the red box. A total of 484,000 of these coins were minted that year with these initials.	A slightly enlarged image of the VDB.	This is the reverse of the coin at left.
	This is my example of the Lincoln cent from 1909 S without the VDB initials on the reverse side of the coin. 1,825,000 of these coins were minted in San Francisco that year and only a small fraction those survive in our day in reasonable condition. The reverse side of the coin is at right.
	At left is my example of the 1914 D cent minted in Denver that year. 1,193,000 of these examples were minted and it is now worth $145 in only a G 4 condition. At the right is the 1924 D coin minted in Denver that year and 2,520,000 of those coins were made in 1924 with few survivors today.
	This is the slab of the coin at right:
This is my example of the 1931 S coin minted in San Francisco. Only 866,000 of these were made that year in the California mint, making this coin the rarest of the early Lincoln cents, with the exception of the 1922 D coins that did not display the 'D' mintmark due to badly worn equipment or no mint mark at all in this city.		This is an example of a rare Lincoln cent from 1922. That year some of the coins minted in Denver did not display the 'D' mint mark. Some were made with worn dies but a few were made with no mint mark die at all. This is one of those and it has been certified. It cost me $372. A G4 is worth $450 and a VF 20 is worth $750. The Red book does not give a number for the quantity minted.