Well the 2009 coins seem to be coming in by the bunch. I guess the local banks called the federal bank for some new change plus the have increased production since the Birthplace cent.
The four Lincoln cents designed for 2009 are meant to show an aspect of his life.
- Birthplace: Birth and early childhood in Kentucky (1809-1816)
- Formative Years in Indiana (1816-1830)
- Professional Life in Illinois (1830-1861)
- Presidency in Washington, D.C. (1861-1865)
Lincoln is shown reading and rail splitting. Stories told of him had him always carrying a book and an axe around during is teen years. I completely expected Lincoln to be wielding an axe as those are the stories I've heard from his early life. I suspect it was a politically correct decision in designing this coin to show no pointy tools out of concerns it may be seen as a weapon. As a young man he would have done plenty of rail splitting in this manner so it is historically accurate.Still a very nice design, of course in hand it looks better.
I also found a 1956-D cent but I posted about it before so why rehash since this one is more scratched than the other.
Here's the stats...
Type/Country: 1 Cent / United States
Year: 2009 (Rail Splitter)
Mintage: 376,000,000 (estimated)
Metal: 97.5% Zinc, 2.5% Copper
Value: $0.01 in VF-20
Allegedly they will make a full copper version with pre-1982 composition so it is possible that some interesting errors may exist so investing in a scale may not be a bad idea.
The spots likely came from the mint as they wash them during the annealing process or after pressing or just to ruin a nice coin and so I would be forced to get a roll at the mint at 16 times face value.
Update: While checking my change I saw an Illinois quarter and notice the same lack of an axe. Check out this proof version from Wikipedia.
Lincoln is carrying an axe but again it is not shown, just a portion of the handle.Based on this statue from the New Salem Historical site in Petersburg, Illinios.
At least in the statue the axe is clearly visible and in his other hand is a law book. Honestly would anyone make comparisons to an axe-wielding maniac. I think we can distinguish a weapon from a tool. The statue was made to show he was discarding his axe an picking up law books to start a new path in life.Update: Possible 2009P-1DR-011, $2.00 in very fine.
Do you have a cent and want to know its value? Leave a comment/question and I will do my best to find out the price and history for you.
3 dollars worth, for Comments/Questions click here.:
Nice image, that.
That's a good point about the potential for some unique errors. I've been wondering about the potential for zinc composition cents showing up in Proof Sets since the proof sets are supposed to have only the 95% copper versions.
I just ordered from the mint and trying to find a way to weigh possible errors without opening it.
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