2010 Lincoln Cents

While collectors eagerly await the release of the next 2009 Lincoln Cent, design candidate images for the 2010 Lincoln Cent reverse were recently released.

The same legislation which authorized the four different reverse designs for the 2009 Lincoln Cent also provides for a new reverse design in 2010. This design will be "emblematic of of President Lincoln's preservation of the United States of America as a single and united country." The new design is expected to be be used as the permanent reverse design for the Lincoln Cent for the foreseeable future.

The slide show below displays the seventeen different designs which are currently being considered.


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Eight of the design candidates feature different views of the US Capitol building, with one of them incorporating the United States flag (LP-01 to LP-08). Two other designs portray the flag on its own (LP-09 to LP-10). One design features the Statue of Freedom, which sits atop the Capitol Building (LP-11). Three designs feature shields (LP-12 to LP-14) and three designs feature eagles (LP-15 to LP-17).

There were initially 18 candidate designs candidates before one was removed from consideration. The design previously identified as "LP-18" contained an image of thirteen wheat stalks bound together with the inscription "One Nation." This was intended to represent the thirteen original colonies. The design also revisited the concept of a wheat themed reverse, which had been used on the Lincoln Cent from 1909 to 1958.

This wheat sheaf design was included in the candidates provided to the Committee of Fine Arts for their April 16 meeting. The members present had unanimously supported the wheat design. According to Coin World, the US Mint subsequently removed this design from consideration stating that it was "inappropriately similar to a 1920's era German pfennig." Several individuals in the coin collecting community had also noted this similarity, as well as a similarity to coins issued during communist eras of some countries. See this blog post from Coin Network.

Pictured above are the LP-18 design which was removed from consideration, a German 1-pfennig coin from 1936, and a 1948 coin from Czechoslovakia.

The Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee reviewed the shortened list of 17 candidate designs on April 28 and gave their support to the shield design identified as LP-13. During the meeting, CCAC members also reportedly spoke about changing the obverse design of the 2010 Lincoln Cent to a more modernized version. This issue will be discussed further in their next meeting. Ultimately the design choice for the 2010 Lincoln Cent will be made by the United States Secretary of the Treasury.

What are your thoughts on the 2010 Lincoln Cent design candidates? Join the discussion on Coin Network!