MY TWO CENTS WORTH: AN EDITORIAL ABOUT THE MINT'S TRADITION OF RUNNING A COIN DESIGN INTO THE GROUND

Memo from The Mint of the United States: 2009 is the 100th anniversary of the Lincoln Cent.

In the whole history of American circulation coins, no other coin observe has endured so long a history. This, I suppose, is a nice way of saying that the United States Mint is in a design rut.

That history of design rut has a long tradition.

The Indian Head Penny lasted fifty years – 1859 to 1909.

The Jefferson five cent piece design has lasted over 70 years.

The Washington Quarter design, which has featured various state commemorative reverses since 1999, has an obverse that dates to 1932.

This year, the Roosevelt dime design marks its sixty third year of circulation, which happens to be as long as Franklin D. Roosevelt was alive.

The dime had roughly the same design from 1837 to 1916. That is a short time only in comparison to the penny design.

Next year, the Kennedy half dollar design will have been in circulation for 46 years, which happens to be how long President Kennedy lived.

The Lincoln Penny obverse has lasted for 100 years, which means entire generations of old people lived and died knowing exactly one penny obverse design. '

In 1943, the mint produced pennies of steel because copper had to be rationed for war uses.

In 1944 - 1945, the mint produced pennies of some sort of brass composition.

The obverse dies had to be reengraved at the 60 year mark.

The penny bore a wheat ears reverse from 1909-1958, a landmark in the history of modern coinage.

The penny bore the Lincoln Memorial Reverse from 1959 to 2008, which sounded like a better idea than what it actually accomplished. The Lincoln Memorial is rather too big to be reproduced on a space the size of a penny back. It looked more like a trolley than a temple.

In 1982, the composition of the penny changed from copper to copper-plated zinc. Apparently by that time, copper pennies were worth more than a cent. Today, a mere 27 years later, the zinc penny is worth more than a cent.

The Mint this week prepares to release the first of four reverses designed to memorialize the 200th birth anniversary of Lincoln:

In a few days, the mint will release the first reverse known as the Kentucky Reverse and will remember Lincoln’s birth in that state.

In three months, the Mint will release the Indiana reverse which will memorialize his youth in the Hoosier Territory.

In six months, the mint will release the Illinois reverse, which will memorialize Lincoln's career as an adult.

In 9 months, the Mint releases the Washington D.C. reverse, which will commemorate his presidency.

In 2010, the Mint will start producing a penny with a new reverse. The official Mint line states that the new reverse will commemorate Lincoln's preservation of the Union, which certainly is a tall order for a piece of art on the back of a cent.

The Mints in Denver and Philadelphia make literally billion$ of the circulating pennies a year. They make the concept of correct change for cash or correct change for purchases in cash possible. They make profit margins possible down to the penny.


THE CALL TO ACTION

No matter how a big a number whether a debt or a profit, it builds one cent at a time. Eventually debit cards may make it obsolete, but for next year, the Congress should authorize a completely new 21st century cent.