One Cent 2009 Lincoln Bicentennial - Presidency, Coin from United States - detailed information

The United States one-cent coin (often called a penny, from the British coin of the same name) is a unit of currency equalling one-hundredth of a United States dollar. The cent's symbol is ¢. It has been the lowest-value physical unit of U.S. currency since the abolition of the half-cent in 1857.

The earliest one cent coins were large and made of copper (1793 - 1857). After a brief transition through copper-nickel until 1864, the denomination changed to bronze and a much smaller size; after 1982, one cent coins are made of copper-clad zinc.

In 1909, the Lincoln Cent (also known as a Lincoln Penny) was introduced to mark the centenary of the birth of Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president of the United States. This was the first time when an actual person (and not an abstract symbol such as Liberty) was depicted on American coins. The obverse of the coin shows a portrait of Abraham Lincoln by Victor David Brenner. There have been three definitive reverses - Wheat Penny (1909 - 1958), Lincoln Memorial (1959 - 2008) and Union Shield (2010 - present).

In 2009, to mark the Lincoln Bicentennial (200 years since his birth), four different one-year type circulating commemorative cents were issued at three-month intervals, each marking a period in the President's life. This coin is the fourth and last of them and marks his presidency in Washington, D.C.; it was officially released on 12th November 2009.

Regular "working strikes" (for issue into circulation) are made of copper-clad zinc; special versions (for inclusion in collector sets, and proofs) are made of the bronze alloy which was used when the Lincoln cents were first introduced in 1909: 95% copper, 3% tin and 2% zinc.

One Cent coins issued in 2009 have now been in circulation for 16 years.