New Pennies for 2009!

The U.S. Mint announced this morning what the new penny designs for 2009 will be. As most avid coin collectors know, the beloved U.S. penny has had the same portrait of Abraham Lincoln on the obverse ("heads" side) for nearly 100 years, since 1909. The last time we got a change in the reverse ("tails") side was back in 1959, almost 50 years ago. This means that next year, the penny will have both a 100th and a 50th anniversary. 2009 also happens to be the 200th anniversary of Lincoln's birth. Add all these fun facts together and you have the makings of a ginormous penny party! We will have four new design types on the penny in 2009, with one being issued about every three months. The new designs are described as follows (links take you to images of the new coin designs):

• Lincoln's Birth and Early Childhood in Kentucky
• Lincoln's Formative Years in Indiana
• Lincoln's Professional Life in Illinois
• Lincoln's Presidency in Washington, DC

I almost can't help but get the feeling that someone in Washington, D.C. said something like, "Now that the State Quarter program is winding down, let's find another way to get as many states into this Lincoln anniversary celebration as possible." Or maybe someone with a strong grasp of Lincoln history and good political connections got to the right people. Like all U.S. coins, there had to be a congressional bill to authorize these new pennies. Maybe this historian said something like, "It's really not fair that Illinois always gets all the credit for being Lincoln's homeland. Let's set the record straight." Whatever the reason, (and all my totally baseless speculation about this aside,) these new pennies will serve as an excellent history lesson about Lincoln. I have to admit that I'm one of those folks who thought Lincoln was from Illinois, as in born there. (It probably doesn't help that the license plates here in Illinois all say, "Land of Lincoln" on them!)

The coin depicted here is my favorite from among the four new designs. It will be the third one issued, and it features Lincoln giving one of his most important speeches, the "House Divided" speech. Artist Joel Iskowitz has captured the eloquence and fire of Lincoln the Orator, years before he would become president, as he stands before the old Illinois statehouse building giving this courageous speech about the effects of slavery on our nation. I made an enlargement of Lincoln's face from the two new designs that depict Lincoln. The close-up shows the amazing detail and heart that Iskowitz puts into his work. The more I see from this amazing artist, the more I like! Did you know that Iskowitz has also designed several Presidential Dollars, First Spouse coins, the 2008 Platinum bullion coin reverse, the 2008 Bald Eagle commemorative dollar, the upcoming Louis Braille dollar, and several other coins? I really wish the U.S. Mint would do more to promote and recognize our coin artists. It would add a compelling human interest angle to the coins, and certainly the work of our coin artists is easily some of the most well-known in the nation! Heck, everyone carries their artwork around in their pockets! How much better known can an artist's work be than that?

I haven't always been a big fan of some of the recent designs coming out of the U.S. Mint. I especially loathed the first year of First Spouse coins, which made the women look old and dour rather than the dynamic and charismatic women they really were. But these new penny designs? I love them!!!!!!!!!! I can't wait to see them coined! I think the U.S. Mint has a big winner on their hands with these coins! Take a look at my photo gallery of the new pennies and tell me what you think of them in the comments section below.

Update 12:29 pm: The U.S. Mint just sent out a notice that the first penny will be released on Feb. 12, 2009, which is the 200th anniversay of Lincoln's birthday!

Image courtesy of the United States Mint.