As the 100th anniversary of President Abraham Lincoln's birth was celebrated by a redesign of the United States One Cent coin, so was the 150th anniversary.

In 1959, the reverse of the United States penny was revised. The old reverse had the words "ONE CENT", "UNITED STATES OF AMERICA", and "E PLURIBUS UNUM", encircled by two wheatheads in memorial style. The new reverse design depicted an image of the Lincoln Memorial with the words "ONE CENT" along the bottom, "UNITED STATES OF AMERICA" along the top, and "E PLURIBUS UNUM" printed directly above the memorial. Looking closely at a memorial cent in good condition, one can make out the figure of President Lincoln sitting as he is in the Memorial, directly in the center.

The memorial cent was designed by Frank Gasparro, then assistant engraver at the United States Philadelphia mint. You can find his initials on the right side of the coin, at the base of the memorial.


United States Coinage

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