HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.
![handle is hein.crs/govejvq0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Congressional Research Service
~ Informing the legislative d bate since 1914
December 20, 2022
Penny: History and Current Status
The Secretary of the Treasury, through the U.S. Mint, is
statutorily authorized to issue specific denominations of
circulating coins (31 U.S.C. §5112). Currently, the United
States has six circulating coin denominations-dollar, half
dollar, quarter dollar, dime, nickel, and penny. Unlike
today's circulating coins, initial coin designs did not feature
images of U.S. Presidents; rather, they often featured
allegorical images of Liberty (depicted as a woman) and
other symbols of the United States.
[l]t had been a practice in Monarchies to exhibit the
figures or heads of their Kings upon their coins....
Now as we have no occasion for this aid to history,
nor any pretense to call the money of the United
States the money of our Presidents ... I am certain it
will be more agreeable to the citizens of the United
States, to see the head of Liberty on their coin, than
the heads of Presidents.
-Representative John Page (VA), Annals of Congress,
March 24, 1792, p. 484.
Penny Designs
The first penny was issued in 1793 and featured the head of
an allegorical woman with flowing hair to symbolize liberty
(obverse) and 15 chain links (reverse) meant to symbolize
the unity of the states. Figure 1 shows the design of the
first penny issued by the U.S. Mint.
Figure I. United States Penny, 1793
Source: U.S. Mint, The History of U.S. Circulating Coins, at
https://www.usmint.gov/learn/h istory/us-circulating-coins.
Prior to 1909, the penny's reverse featured a wreath (which
had replaced the linked chains) and the obverse images
periodically changed to include several different versions of
Liberty (1793-1856), a flying eagle (1856-1858), and the
Indian head penny (1859-1908).
https://crsreport
Beginning in 1909, the penny's obverse has featured
President Abraham Lincoln. That year, the U.S. Mint
redesigned the penny's obverse to honor President
Lincoln's 100th birthday. The reverse featured an image of
wheat surrounding the words One Cent and United
States of America. This is known as the Wheat Penny.
Since then, the penny's reverse has been redesigned several
times, often coinciding with a milestone anniversary of
President Lincoln. These redesigns occurred in 1959 for his
150th birthday and in 2009 for his 200th birthday. Figure 2
shows the 1909-1958, 1959-2008, and 2009 pennies.
Figure 2. United States Pennies, 1909-2009
Wheat Penny
1909-1958
Lincoln Penny
1959-2008
Lincoln
Bicentennial
Penny
2009
Source: My Coin Guides, Lincoln Wheat Cent, at
https://lincolncents.net/lincoln-wheat-cent; U.S. Mint, Lincoln Penny
(1959-2008), at https://www.usmint.gov/coins/coin-medal-programs/
circulating-coins/lincoln-penny-1959-2008; and Lincoln Bicentennial
One Cent Program, https://www.usmint.gov/learn/coin-and-medal-
programs/lincoln-bicentennial-one-cent.
.conqress.qov
I](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.crs/govejvq0001&div=1&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)