Cents · 1909–1958

Lincoln Wheat Cent

Years of issue: 1909–1958

Year

Catalog

Years

1909 1911 1912 1914 1922 1924 1931 1943 1955

Designer

Victor D. Brenner

Composition

Bronze; 1943 zinc-coated steel; 1944–46 recycled brass

Diameter

19.05 mm

Mass

3.11 g

Thickness

1.52 mm

Edge

Plain

Mints

Philadelphia, Denver, San Francisco

Metal

Bronze

Design

Brenner’s mature Lincoln, the first regular U.S. coin to portray a real person. Reverse two durum wheat stalks flanking ONE CENT. 1909 V.D.B. initials at the bottom reverse caused a political row and were pulled, then restored on the shoulder in 1918.

History

Released for Lincoln’s 100th birthday, the Wheat cent is the most collected U.S. series. It ran through two world wars, the Depression, and the early Cold War. 1943 steel cents were a copper-conservation emergency; a handful of 1943 bronze and 1944 steel off-metal errors are legendary. Keys include 1909-S VDB, 1914-D, 1922 No D, and 1931-S. Brenner’s portrait has outlived every later reverse — Memorial, bicentennial shields, and the Union shield — making Lincoln the longest-running image in American coinage.