Consider the lowly penny. Tossed into piggy banks and lost in sofas, the penny doesn’t get much respect today. But over 100 years ago, one president decided to make history with the penny, and started a trend that continues today.
To get to the heart of the story, we must go back to 1865.
When Abraham Lincoln was assassinated in 1865, Theodore Roosevelt was seven years old, living in his hometown of New York City. The nation was shocked at Lincoln’s death, and his funeral extended over 13 days with a train carrying his casket to many cities so the populace could pay their respects. New York was one of those cities, and the cortege passed Roosevelt’s home. As documented by a photo taken that day, young Theodore watched from an upstairs window.
Thereafter, Lincoln was Theodore’s favorite president, held in high esteem for his leadership during our nation’s worst crisis.
Theodore (who hated the name Teddy) also became president following an assassination, that of William McKinley in 1901. Theodore was an assertive president, forever changing the office and firmly putting the Executive Branch into a preeminent place in our government.
Once he secured election to the office in his own right in 1904, he began searching for ways to honor Lincoln. Up to that time in our nation’s history, coins were minted with eagles, images of a female ‘Liberty’, Indians, Grecian Gods, and pastoral scenes. No coin had ever borne the image of a president.
Roosevelt saw his opening. He insisted that a new penny be minted with the head of Lincoln on one side. He commissioned an artist he had patronized in New York, Victor David Brenner, to design it. He pushed it through all the approvals, and the first Lincoln penny was struck in 1909 in time to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Lincoln’s birth.
But the story doesn’t end there.
Victor David Brenner was determined to ‘sign’ his work, insisting that his initials, VDB, appear on the back of the penny. People immediately noticed the large initials, and within a short time, the Secretary of the Treasury demanded the end of the production run. Over 28 million pennies had been produced. After much debate, the artist’s issue was resolved in 1919, with his initials appearing in nearly microscopic font below the bevel of the Lincoln bust and left of center. Every penny since then has borne his initials.
Not surprisingly, Roosevelt’s decision to honor Lincoln on the penny led to many other presidential coins: the Washington Quarter in 1932, Jefferson Nickel in 1938, Franklin Roosevelt Dime in 1946, (appropriate since FDR led the March of Dimes campaigns as he was a polio victim), Kennedy Half Dollar in 1964, and the Eisenhower Dollar in 1971.
The government has minted hundreds of billions of Lincoln pennies over the past 111 years. It now costs more than a cent to mint a penny. And, due to inflation and use of credit cards, some are calling for an end to the mighty penny.
If and when that happens, we may see Lincoln appear again on a future coin. Maybe try dollar coins again? If they use the Victor David Brenner design, I wonder if his initials will still be used?
And, what about paper currency, you ask?
The 1913 passage of the Federal Reserve Act also included an overhaul of our paper currency. Lincoln appeared on the $5 bill the next year. Fittingly, George Washington was first to appear on our currency, in 1869.
Interested in learning more about the presidents? Visit the Carolyn & James Millar Presidential Gallery on the upper level of the Booth Western Art Museum. The gallery features original letters and photographs of every U.S. president. Learn more at www.boothmuseum.org.
