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The United States one-cent coin, commonly known as a penny, is a unit of currency equaling one-hundredth of a United States dollar. The cent's symbol is ¢. Its obverse has featured the profile of President Abraham Lincoln since 1909, the centennial of his birth. The colloquial term penny derives from the British coin of the same name, the pre-decimal version of which had a similar value.
In 1959, marking the 150th anniversary of the birth of Lincoln, the reverse of the cent was changed from the wheat heads to an image of the Lincoln Memorial, designed by Mint engraver Frank Gasparro. This first major design change in 50 years would itself last 50 years.
This is a lengthy series, with many interesting varieties, both major and minor. The rarest is the 1990-S No Mintmark, created when a worker at the Philadelphia mint failed to add the mintmark before shipping the die to San Francisco. The Doubled Die Obverse of 1972, the Doubled Die Reverse of 1983, and the Doubled Ear of 1984 are all popular, desirable, and valuable varieties. Close AM and Wide AM varieties have been found on a number of different years: sometimes, these are transitional differences, other times they are the usage of Proof dies to strike coins for circulation.
From 1965 to 1967, these coins were minted in Philadelphia and Denver without a mintmark.
From 1974 through 1986, a number of these coins were minted in the United States Bullion Depository, West Point. These coins lacked a mintmark are were indistinguishable from the Philadelphia issue.
In 1982, the composition of the Cent was changed from bronze to copper-plated zinc.
Obverse
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Abraham Lincoln (the 16th President of the United States, led the United States through its Civil War, abolished slavery) bust right, date lower right. The lettering LIBERTY and the motto IN GOD WE TRUST. IN GOD WE TRUST |
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Reverse
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The imposing marble Lincoln Memorial provides the central motif, with the legends E Pluribus Unum (Latin for "Out of many, one") and UNITED STATES OF AMERICA completing the design, together with the denomination. The initials FG appear on the right, near the shrubbery. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA |
Edge |