The mainstream press picked up and ran with the U.S. Mint’s promotion of Lincoln penny images and the new coins to honor the bicentennial of Lincoln’s birth and the 100th anniversary of the Lincoln cent in 2009.

Nearly every major outlet had something to say about the four commemorative coins. And, why not? It’s not every day a circulating U.S. coin gets a 50-year-old makeover.

Before the evening news Monday, several thousand CoinNews visitors had read about the upcoming changes.

While the quantity of visitors to the article was no record-breaker, or "top 20" for that matter, Read the rest of this entry »

(Edina, Minnesota) – The introduction next year of new designs for the common Lincoln cent is being praised by a coin expert, but he doubts the practicality of pennies in pocket change.

"The Mint has been producing cents for circulation for 215 years since 1793 and they’re fun to collect, but the usefulness of one-cent denomination coins is questionable.  Pennies may go the way of the two-cent, three-cent and twenty-cent denomination coins that were eliminated in the 1800’s," said Gary Adkins of Edina, Minnesota, President of the Professional Numismatists Guild, a nonprofit organization composed of many of the nation’s top rare coin experts.  

"Any new design will be exciting for collectors and should make non-collectors take a closer look at their pocket change.  But this may be the beginning of the end for pennies,” said Adkins.

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2009 Lincoln penny design images were revealed by U.S. Mint Director Ed Moy Monday morning during a news conference at the Lincoln Memorial. The four reverse designs celebrate a different aspect of Abraham Lincoln’s life: his birth and childhood in Kentucky, his formative years in Indiana, his professional life in Illinois and his Presidency in Washington, D.C.

"This is a momentous occasion in the history of our Nation’s coinage because these designs represent the first change in the Lincoln cent in half a century," said Director Moy. 

"These coins are a tribute to one of our greatest Presidents whose legacy has had a lasting impact on our country.  He believed all men were created equal, and his life was a model for accomplishing the American dream through honesty, integrity, loyalty, and a lifetime of education."

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The United States Mint announced in a media advisory Friday that it will reveal the 2009 Lincoln penny designs during a news conference at the Lincoln Memorial on Monday, September 22.

(Editor’s update on 9/22/08: view penny design images here.)

The news event will be hosted by Mint Director Ed Moy and the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission.

Four pennies with different reverse designs will be released in 2009 to celebrate the bicentennial of Abraham Lincoln’s birth and the 100th anniversary of the Lincoln cent.

While the obverse or heads side of the penny will remain unchanged, the 2009 pennies will bear new reverse images for the first time in 50 years. In 1959, the currently used Memorial reverse replaced the well known Wheat Ears design.

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Legislation to change the metallic composition of the penny and nickel to a less expensive copper-colored steel passed in the U.S. House of Representatives on May 8, 2008.

However, the plunge in base metal prices since could very well end the legislation’s chances of moving forward in the Senate.

The goal of the bill, which it titled Coin Modernization and Taxpayer Savings Act of 2008 - H.R. 5512, was directed toward saving money after high copper prices pushed production costs of the penny up to about 1.26 cents and the nickel to about 7.7 cents.

Since May, copper prices have fallen to where the melt value of a penny is now under a half cent and the nickel is just slightly higher than 5 cents — the U.S. Mint now makes money issuing pennies and almost breaks even with nickels.

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Katie Couric, CBS Evening News anchor, today discussed in her "Notebook" commentary the costs to mint pennies and nickel, and the recently passed House legislation to make these coins from steel.

Although nothing new was offered in her commentary that hasn’t already been discussed in similar numismatic articles, like

• Current and 2007 Costs to Mint Pennies and Nickels, and
• House Passes Bill For Steel Cent and Nickel

Couric also very briefly broached the subject of eliminating the penny completely. Again, while not new, it’s nevertheless interesting to hear perspectives from the mainstream media.

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One of the pleasant side affects of the Coin Modernization and Taxpayer Savings Act of 2008, which would change the metallic composition of pennies and nickels to steel, is the revelation of current and past costs in minting coins.

Figures of coin production expenses are interesting in themselves, but charting their trends is another reminder of the volatility of metals within coins, like that of copper, zinc and nickel.

The cost of minting each penny and nickel today are:

• Penny at 1.26 cents
• Nickel at 7.7 cents

As a side note, the U.S. Mint also provided recent costs to mint the dime, which is 4 cents, the quarter at 10 cents and $1 coins at 16 cents each.

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The House debated on the legislation and finally voted yesterday to change the metallic composition of the penny and 5-cent nickel to a less expensive copper-colored steel.

Although the prices of copper, zinc and nickel metals in coins have declined in recent months, the penny and 5-cent nickel still cost more to make than what they’re worth—resulting in a reported loss of about $100 million every year, or $1 billion over a decade.

It now costs about 1.26 cents to make the penny and about 7.7 cents to make the nickel.

House bill “H.R. 5512, the Coin Modernization and Taxpayer Savings Act of 2008” would seek to change those manufacturing costs by using copper-colored steal, which could cut the cost of making pennies down to about 0.7 cents each. But its recent passage in the House is no guarantee it’ll make its way to the White House for signing.

H.R. 5512 must still go through the Senate and then the President, and not everyone is happy with the current legislation.

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The debate to change the metal composition of U.S. coinage was waged on the House floor Tuesday.

With the surging prices of metals like zinc and copper, it now costs more than a penny to make a penny and about 7.7 cents to make a nickel.

A new House bill entitled "H.R. 5512, the Coin Modernization and Taxpayer Savings Act of 2008" would seek to change that and it was that bill, which was in debate.

The proposed legislation would give the Treasury Secretary the power to change the composition of coins and use less expensive metals. It also would require the United States Mint to produce steel pennies within six months of the bill’s enactment.

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A new bill was introduced yesterday that proposes the elimination of the Canadian penny. Abolishing a country’s smallest denominated coin is not new. It has certainly happened in the past, and several countries are publicly debating the issue or implementing a recall of their smallest coin right now.

As examples, in recent months and weeks there has been talk of Russia removing their one-kopek, Denmark saying goodbye to their 25-øre and Malaysia abandoning their one-sen.

Unlike the dilemma other countries face, like the U.S., the cost to manufacture the Canadian penny is actually less than its value. That’s one less obstacle to overcome for those who would like to keep it.

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