District of Columbia Lincoln Cent Unveiling

District of Columbia Lincoln Cent Event:
November 12, 2009

Director of the United States Mint Edmund C. Moy, ALBC Executive Director Eileen Mackevich and Dr. Donald Kennon, Chief Historian of the U.S. Capitol Historical Society welcomed a crowd of Lincoln fans and numismatists Thursday morning for the release and exchange of the latest redesigned Lincoln penny.

Titled Presidency in Washington, D.C., the new Lincoln cent was the fourth and final new penny released during Lincoln's Bicentennial year.

The District of Columbia one cent coin highlights Lincoln's Presidency in Washington, D.C. (1861-1865) and features the half-finished United States Capitol dome, symbolizing a nation torn apart by civil war and the resolve Lincoln showed as he guided the country through its worst crisis. 

The penny is designed by US Mint AIP Master Designer Susan Gamble and sculpted by United States Sculptor-Engraver Joseph Menna.

Special thanks to Industrial Bank of Washington, D.C. for their coordination of the coin exchange.

US Mint Director Edmund C. Moy welcomes the crowd as ALBC Executive Director Eileen Mackevich and U.S. Capitol Historical Society Chief Historian, Dr. Donald Kennon look on.

Dr. Donald Kennon, Chief Historian U.S. Capitol Historical Society.

ALBC Executive Director, Eileen Mackvich.

2009 Lincoln Bicentennial One Cent Designs

In 2005, two of the National ALBC’s three co-chairs – U.S. Senator Dick Durbin and U.S. Representative (now U.S. Transportation Secretary) Ray LaHood – introduced the legislation directing the U.S. Mint to design and issue new one cent coins for the 200^th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln’s birth in 2009.  Their legislation went beyond the original idea of “an Abraham Lincoln bicentennial penny,” however, and directed the U.S. Mint, rather, to create four new one cent coin reverse designs.  The designs represent the four major aspects of President Lincoln’s life – birth and early childhood in Kentucky, formative years in Indiana, professional life in Illinois and presidency in Washington, D.C.

The ceremony also featured the unveiling of the completely new redesigned penny scheduled for release in February 2010.

Members from the Citizens Coin Advisory Committee with the redesigned reverse side of the Lincoln penny.

News about the upcoming 2010 penny:

• 2010 Lincoln Cent Design Unveiled