Learn More About U.S. Lincoln Cents (1909-Present)

The 100th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln’s birth was a celebration that ushered in a new styling of U.S. coins by using real portraits on the Lincoln penny. President Theodore Roosevelt commissioned sculptor Victor David Brenner to design the elements for the replacement coin of the long-running Indian Cent penny. There have been more Lincoln one-cent coins produced than any other denomination. Originally produced using 95% copper and 5% zinc, the Lincoln penny’s composition changed in response to the country’s defense needs during World War II with copper being a vital resource for the war effort. This resulted in the U.S. Mint producing a 99% steel penny with a thin layer of zinc in 1943. Modified alloys eventually gave way to today’s drastically different copper-plated zinc composition containing 97.6% zinc and 2.4% copper.