Question: I read somewhere recently that the Lincoln cent was controversial when it first came out. Can you shed a little light on this?
Answer: The omnipresent Lincoln cent, minted continuously since 1909, has been with us in many types and metallic contents in its 106-year history. The Lincoln cent’s controversial beginning was based on the fact that the new coin was the first U.S. coin struck for general circulation to bear the likeness of an actual person, and was also the first one-cent piece issued with the nation’s motto IN GOD WE TRUST. Add the prominence of Victor David Brenner’s now-famous V.D.B. initials on the reverse rim of the new coins and the stage was set for controversy. When word got out of the impending design, newspapers across the country were quick to point out the shortcomings of such a coin. The New Orleans Picayune noted: “The Republican institutions are toppling and our nation is about to become a monarchy. This new Lincoln cent may be said to mark the first visible and outward emblem of the transmogrification of the republic with an empire.” Not to be outdone, the Richmond Times chimed in: “No President, with the possible exception of Washington, occupies such relation to the American people as justifies his being memorialized on their coins.” The side in favor of the new design type was just as vocal. New York’s Rochester Post Express opined: “If the Lincoln cent is a precedent then American money may acquire an historical value.” The controversy raged, however, to the point where the Lincoln cent was redesigned in August 1909, and Brenner’s V.D.B. monogram was removed from the reverse. In 1918, Brenner’s V.D.B. monogram was returned to the design, this time in tiny inconspicuous letters on Lincoln’s shoulder. That the controversy arose at all seems silly today, but the same controversy has given modern-day collectors a wealth of Lincoln cent issues from 1909 to enjoy and pursue today.
