Today, we celebrate the 216th anniversary of President Abraham Lincoln’s birth. He was only 56 at the time of his death at the hands of an assassin. His memory lingers, however, and despite having his birthday celebration clumped in with other, lesser presidents on President’s Day, many of us still honor him as one of the greatest presidents.
The Formative Years Lincoln Penny (pictured above) shows Lincoln’s familiar portrait on the “heads” side of the coin, and the young Lincoln sitting on a log reading on the “tails” side. The 2009 Formative Years Lincoln cent design represents Lincoln’s life, when he was a rail splitter, from 1816-1830 in Indiana. This is the second of four different reverse designs issued in 2009 for the Lincoln cent coin on the bicentennial of his birth. Now that minting of pennies is to be discontinued, the collectors’ value of these coins will doubtlessly climb.
Click on the penny image to enlarge.