United States Lincoln Wheat Cent

The Lincoln Wheat cent is a United States one-cent coin struck by the United States Mint from 1909 until 1958. Commissioned during the presidency of Theodore Roosevelt to commemorate the centennial of Abraham Lincoln's birth, it replaced the Indian Head cent and became the first widely circulating American coin to depict an actual historical individual rather than an allegorical personification of Liberty.

Both faces of the coin were designed by the sculptor Victor David Brenner. The obverse depicts a right-facing portrait bust of Lincoln, drawn from a nineteenth-century photograph. The reverse features two stalks of wheat framing the denomination, giving the issue its colloquial name. On the initial strikings released in August 1909, Brenner's initials, VDB, appeared prominently at the base of the reverse, but public reaction caused them to be removed within days. The initials were later reintroduced in 1918 in a smaller format on Lincoln's shoulder.

With a standard diameter of 19.05 millimetres (0.75 inches), the coin was traditionally struck in a 95 per cent copper alloy weighing 3.11 grams. However, wartime requirements led to notable material alterations during the Second World War. In 1943, the Mint produced cents made of zinc-coated steel to conserve copper for the war effort. Between 1944 and 1946, melted ammunition shell casings were integrated into the alloy, occasionally imparting brassy streaks or darker finishes. Brenner's wheat reverse remained in regular production until 1959, when it was replaced by the Lincoln Memorial design.

The type can also be identified by its 95 per cent copper composition, the zinc-coated steel used in 1943, and the placement of the designer's initials at the base of the reverse on 1909 issues or on Lincoln's shoulder from 1918.