Lincoln wheat Cents ReversePhoto courtesy of Harlan j. Berk, Ltd. Note: this article is continued by the history of Lincoln Cent, part 1. As described in part 1 of this article, the v.d.b. had to be removed from the moulds currency and quickly because the public was clamoring for new Lincoln cents. Penny of new production was suspended until you have solved the problem v.d.b ... Secretary of the Treasury Franklin MacVeagh fact interesting decision to let the public about the impending change to the hundredth of a new, predictable, and the result is that the people began hoarding the existing cents of Lincoln, aggravate the already scarce. Rumors began to circulate that the Government was Recalling the v.d.b ... Poor Victor David Brenner (who designed the coins, and for which lies the v.d.b.) was vilified by the media as arrogant and in vain, even though it was US Mint Chief engraver Charles Barber who has given the size and placement of these intials! From 12 August 1909, a new series of coins dies of work was prepared without the v.d.b. upon them. The new issue of Penny soon followed, creating the first varieties die main series Lincoln Cent. It is worth noting that there were actually six distinct types of US cents issued in 1909: Indian Head Cents-1909 (Mint: 14.4 mln.)Indian Head Cents-1909-S (Mint: 309 k) Lincoln wheat cents-1909 VDB (Mint: 28 mil.)Lincoln wheat cents-1909-S VDB (Mint: 484 k) Lincoln wheat cents-1909 (Mint: 73 mil.)Lincoln wheat cents-1909-S (Mint: 1.8 mil.)Though there are some minor die varieties between various year 1909 Lincoln cents, the v.d.b. is by far the best known.
In 1918, the v.d.b. was restored the chip, where it remains to this day. Can be found at the base of the bust of Lincoln, in small small letters on the part of the bust that angles down near the bottom right.
The next important event in saga Lincoln Cent is the change of currency metals in 1942 and 1943. The United States was fighting in massive war, addressing main enemies on two fronts (Japan and Europe) and the Government determined that he needed all of copper and Tin could eventually put their hands on to make ammunition for the war effort. In 1942, the u.s. Mint took all but a trace of Tin off League%, which technically changed the brass bronze metal. Because the Mint had a supply of strip coining of existing (bronze) already prepared, both alloys are manufactured from hundredths of Lincoln of 1942. Late in 1942, the situation had become quite extreme that it was decided to remove all copper Lincoln Cents beginning in 1943. After some experiments but hurry, the u.s. Mint has decided to make the pennies from a alternative alloy formed in painted steel with a thin layer of zinc. This change has caused a shiny silver penny that was easily confused with a dime when new, and that turned into a corrosion piece of junk, once the thin coating of zinc wore off. Furthermore, the pennies were useless in most ATMs, because technology fraud time saw the magnetic steel cents as snails!Needless to say, hundredths of steel were not very popular, and in 1944 the Mint was forced to resume making cents brass alloy, war or not. Although the Government has denied that they invoked the steel cents (hoping to avoid further scarcity of Penny and accumulation), after the war the Treasury Department directed quietly banks to remove steel cents from circulation whenever they met their. There are different stories regarding the final disposition of hundredths of steel recovered 68 million. A story has the Government dumping them all in the Pacific, but the State of accounts more reliable than they were merged by the Mint.
One of the most enduring myths about the Lincoln cent is that all cents post-war period were made from melted artillery shells and other military copper-based results. If it is true that the US military adopted policies to recover spent shell casings and to save other waste of copper and Tin, the reasons probably had more to do with global conservation of scarce resources, metal than worry about what to do cents. However, a quantity of spent shell casings finally made their way to the Mint, which contributed for the coining alloy used for Lincoln cents in 1944 through 1946 in brass. In 1947, the League of Lincoln Cent returned to the settlement of bronze used before the war. No history of Lincoln cent would be complete without a mention of the famous 1955 Doubled Die Penny. This error of minting remarkable was the result of a coin die get two distinct impressions Hub in it. The result was that an estimated 20,000 coins to 24,000 were hit that had extreme doubling. The most remarkable surrounding the discovery of cents die doubled 1955 is that the Mint US caught the error before the mint coins left, but decided to leave them anyway, hoping that no one would have noticed!The 1955 Doubled Die Lincoln Cent was a turning point in U.S. coin. Thanks for the great advertising the error received, more people than ever started an interest for the collection of coins and the hobby of research for varieties of die moved into the mainstream.
As the 50th anniversary of the Lincoln cent came up, (which coincided with the sesquicentennial of the birth of Lincoln), the u.s. Mint has bowed to popular and created a new reverse design. Since 1959, the reverse side of the hundredth of Lincoln in the foreground the building Lincoln Memorial which was dedicated in 1922.Next page-the variety of die and metal changes during the period of Lincoln Memorial Cent. History of the Lincoln Cent, part 3
