1909-S VDB Lincoln Cent
The 1909-S VDB Lincoln Cent is a low-mintage coin of the United States dollar. It is a key date variety of the one-cent coin produced by the United States Mint in San Francisco in 1909. The Lincoln penny replaced the Indian Head penny and was the first everyday U.S. coin to feature an actual person, but it was immediately met with controversy over the inclusion of the initials of the sculptor who designed the coin, Victor David Brenner, on the reverse.
United States | |
| Value | 0.01 U.S. dollar |
|---|---|
| Mass | 3.11 g |
| Diameter | 19.05 mm (0.750 in) |
| Edge | Plain |
| Composition |
|
| Years of minting | 1909 |
| Obverse | |
| Design | Abraham Lincoln |
| Designer | Victor David Brenner |
| Design date | 1909 |
| Reverse | |
| Design | Wheat heads |
| Designer | Victor David Brenner |
| Design date | 1909 |
US President Theodore Roosevelt ordered the new design with US President Abraham Lincoln's head to honor Lincoln as the savior of the Union. The coins were to be released on the 100th anniversary of Lincoln's birth, February 12, 1909. The coin was delayed to add the words "In God We Trust" and eventually released August 2, 1909.
Within days of the coin's release, it was discontinued (August 6, 1909) so that Brenner's initials (VDB) could be removed from the dies. The two mints charged with striking the Lincoln cent were the Philadelphia Mint (no mint mark) and the San Francisco Mint (mint mark S). The Philadelphia Mint produced 27,995,000 VDB pennies, but the San Francisco Mint produced only 484,000, which made this variety the rarest of the series.
When Americans heard that the coin was being discontinued, they waited in long lines to get the pennies. People assumed that they would become valuable as souvenirs. In many cities throughout the United States, people went to get quantities of pennies that they could resell. In New York city Policemen were called in to control the people.