This was the first ever U.S. coin that would be released that would contain a real person on the picture. As such, there was much controversy as some people felt that putting a real person on a coin was too similar to the European monarchies. Others felt that a man of Lincoln's importance belonged on a hire denomination coin than a penny. Mint employees were upset that a coin was designed by a mint outsider.
With all the controversy, the demand for the new penny only grew. On official release day, people stood in lines to get their first new penny and in many places the coins had to be rationed. The entire supply of cents was gone in 7 days. This initial release contained 27,996,194 1909 VDB and the now scare and key date Lincoln, the 1909 S VDB, that had a mintage of only 404,000. The supply ran dry because only after two days after the official release, on August 4, 1909, production was stopped by order of the Treasury Secretary Franklin MacVeigh.
Although MacVeigh had earlier approved the design, he told reporters that he did not know that Brenner's initials were to appear on the coin and that he was only reacting to widespread public criticism. Many people objected to the size of the letters that Brenner had placed just above the rim on the reverse of the coin. Brenner was angry and threatened to sue as the initials and even full names of other designers had appeared on many previous coins, but there is no indication that he ever followed through on this threat. A suggestion was made to put just the initial “B” on the coin but this was met with fierce resistance by Charles Barber who did not want Brenner's work confused with his own. MacVeigh also claimed that it was cheaper and faster to remove the initials from the hub and leave the die alone. Thus, Brenner's initials were taken off the coin. They did not reappear on the penny until 1918 after the death of Charles Barber. However, the initials were put on Lincoln's shoulder in letters so small that it can barely be seen without magnification. Although there is no hard proof, many believe that anti-Semitism played a large role in the outcry over Brenner's initials on the Lincoln cent.
The coming years saw many more changes and Part III will cover those changes
More Fun Penny Facts
The U.S. one-cent coin is 19 millimeters in diameter and weighs 2.5 grams.
The composition of the penny is 97.5% zinc and 2.5 % copper.
There have been 11 different designs featured on the penny.
The U.S. Mint produced over 6.8 billion pennies in 2004.
The most pennies produced annually was in 1982 when over 16 billion pennies were produced
Since its beginning, the U.S. Mint has produced over 400 billion pennies.
The average penny lasts 25 years.
The Lincoln penny was the first U.S. coin to feature a historic figure. President Abraham Lincoln has been on the penny since 1909, the 100th anniversary of his birth.
The Lincoln penny was the first cent on which appeared the words "In God We Trust."
Over two-thirds of all coins produced by the U.S. Mint are pennies.
Currently, the penny is the only coin where the portrait of the person on the coin is looking to the right. The nickel, dime quarter and half dollar, the individuals are looking left. (This changed with the 2005 nickel and now the nickel as the first ever forward facing design)
