Penny (U.S. coin)

Cent (United States)
Value:	0.01 US dollars
Mass:	2.500 g
Diameter:	19.05 mm
Thickness:	1.55 mm
Edge:	plain
Composition:	Copper-plated Zinc 97.5% Zn, 2.5% Cu
Obverse

Design:	Abraham Lincoln
Designer:	V.D. Brenner
Design Date:	1909
Reverse
Design:	Lincoln Memorial
Designer:	Frank Gasparro
Design Date:	1959

The United States one-cent coin, commonly called a penny, is a unit of currency equaling one 1/100 of a United States dollar. Its current design features the profile of President Abraham Lincoln on the obverse and the Lincoln Memorial on the reverse. The Lincoln obverse design has been in place since 1909, when it was added to commemorate the centennial of Lincoln's birth. The original artist who executed Lincoln's portrait was Victor David Brenner. The reverse design, executed by Frank Gasparro, was introduced in 1959, the sesquicentennial of Lincoln's birth.

Coins minted after 1982 consist of 97% zinc, 3% copper, and ones before that were 95% copper, 5% zinc. This was changed because the intrinsic value of the coin started to rise above one cent. In 1943, at the peak of the Second World War, they were made of zinc-plated steel (for a short time) due to war demands for copper. Copper cents from 1943 and steel 1944 cents were inadvertently produced and are extremely rare. Following that year, salvaged ammunition shells made their way into the minting process, and it was not uncommon to see coins featuring streaks of brass or having a considerably darker finish than other issues.

The cent has gone through several designs over its two-hundred year history. Initially, it was much larger than it is today, about the size of the current United States half dollar coin. Despite the prevalence of the common term "penny", the U.S. Mint has never actually minted a coin having that name.

Penny (U.S. coin)

See also