Penny to see facelift in 2009 with four new designs

Four newly designed Lincoln pennies will be issued by the U.S. government starting in 2009. The new circulating pennies will celebrate the 200th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln's birth and commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Lincoln cent.

The Lincoln reverse coin designs were unveiled by United States Mint Director Ed Moy Monday during a news conference at the Lincoln Memorial. (See Lincoln penny photos up close.) They mark the first design change for the penny in 50 years.

"This is a momentous occasion in the history of our Nation's coinage because these designs represent the first change in the Lincoln cent in half a century," said Director Moy.  "These coins are a tribute to one of our greatest Presidents whose legacy has had a lasting impact on our country.  He believed all men were created equal, and his life was a model for accomplishing the American dream through honesty, integrity, loyalty, and a lifetime of education."

According to the Mint, the four designs represent four major aspects of President Lincoln's life:  his birth and childhood in Kentucky, his formative years in Indiana, his professional life in Illinois and his Presidency in Washington, D.C. 

The Mint indicates the first new penny will be issued for Lincoln's birthday on February 12, 2009. The others will follow in about three-month intervals. These coins, like today's, will continue to bear the same obverse (heads side) image of Lincoln that was designed by Victor David Brenner in 1909.

While coin collectors are sure to appreciate the designs, many in the public are questioning whether the cent should even be minted. For much of 2008 when copper prices were at their highest, the cost to mint the Lincoln penny was nearly two cents. Then there are those who question the value of using today's smallest denominated coin given inflation and its weakened buying power.

The introduction next year of new designs for the common Lincoln cent is being praised by a coin expert, but he doubts the practicality of pennies in pocket change.

"The Mint has been producing cents for circulation for 215 years since 1793 and they're fun to collect, but the usefulness of one-cent denomination coins is questionable.  Pennies may go the way of the two-cent, three-cent and twenty-cent denomination coins that were eliminated in the 1800's," said Gary Adkins of Edina, Minnesota, President of the Professional Numismatists Guild, a nonprofit organization composed of many of the nation's top rare coin experts.  

"Any new design will be exciting for collectors and should make non-collectors take a closer look at their pocket change.  But this may be the beginning of the end for pennies," Adkins added.

A Lincoln commemorative silver dollar will also be released in 2009 for collectors.

For additional information regarding the new pennies, visit the U.S. Mint page: 2009 Lincoln Bicentennial One Cent Coin Program.