Abraham Lincoln was born in 1809. 2009 was his birth’s bicentennial, and the 2009 Lincoln bicentennial one-cent program was launched to celebrate his bicentennial and the centennial of the Lincoln cent.
As part of this program, the U.S. Mint issued four Lincoln penny reverse designs commemorating four phases of Abraham Lincoln’s life and the places he lived during those times.
2009 Lincoln Bicentennial Designs
The designs were made by four different artists, all using Victor D. Brenner’s 1909 obverse.
Birth and Early Childhood in Kentucky
The first of the Lincoln bicentennial penny reverse designs honors the humble beginnings of America’s 16th President and the Great Emancipator. This reverse design depicts a log cabin like the one Lincoln was born in, near Nolin Creek, three miles from present-day Hodgenville, Kentucky. The Lincoln family moved to nearby Knob Creek Farm when Abraham was two years old and lived there until he was old enough to fetch water and firewood.
The birth and early childhood reverse was designed by Richard Masters and sculpted by Jim Licaretzz.
Formative Years in Indiana
The second issue in the Lincoln bicentennial penny program pays homage to the years of Lincoln’s later childhood and adolescence in Indiana. The design features a youthful Lincoln perched on a log with a book in his hand and his rail splitter by his side.
His family moved to southern Indiana in 1816 and when he was nine years old, his mother, Nancy died. By the age of eleven, he had learned his parents love of reading, consuming The Life of Washington, Robinson Crusoe, and A Thousand and One Arabian Nights. Lincoln developed skills as a woodcutter and plowman in his time on the Indiana frontier.
The Formative Years in Indiana reverse was designed by Charles Vickers.
Professional Life in Illinois
The third release in the Lincoln bicentennial penny program honors his emergence in the legal field and his foray into politics. The reverse design depicts Abraham Lincoln giving a speech in front of the Illinois State Capitol building.
In 1830, Thomas Lincoln moved the family to Illinois, where Abraham found work as a steamboat operator while he grew interested in law and politics. Lincoln was running for the Illinois legislature in 1834 when he met John Todd Stuart, a fellow Whig running for office who loaned him legal textbooks. Abraham Lincoln was elected to the Illinois General Assembly in 1834 and received a license to practice law in 1836. In 1846, he was elected to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives.
The third 2009 penny release, Professional Life in Illinois, was designed by Joel Iskowitz and sculpted by Don Everhart.
Presidency in Washington, DC
The fourth release in the Lincoln bicentennial penny series honors Abraham Lincoln’s Presidency and time in Washington, D.C from 1861 to 1865. This reverse features a half finished United States Capitol dome.
The Civil War began about one month after Lincoln’s inauguration. Less than one year later, on January 1, 1863, he issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which declared all persons held as slaves to be free. The dome on the U.S. Capitol building was erected between 1855 and 1866, with ongoing construction during the Civil War.
The Presidency in Washington, D.C. reverse was designed by Susan Gamble and sculpted by Joseph Menna.
