What is wheat penny?

wheat penny is a coin with one cent, which was produced by a coin of the United States from 1909 to 1958. Its name comes from the design on the back of the coin, which contained a pulley of wheat on each side and phrase "One Cent" and "United States". At the top was the Latin phrase "E pluribus unum", which means "from many, one" and was considered an unofficial motto of the US, a cheek or queue that represented the form of former US President Abraham Lincoln, the sentence "Liberty" and the year in which Coin was produced. Penny, which is also known as Lincoln Wheat or Wheatback Penny, is a long -term collectible collector item with a rich historical value.

first released in 1909

wheat pennies have been made since 1909 in memory of 100. The anniversary of Lincoln's birth. At first they were released on August 2, 1909 and were the first American coins to represent a real person. AS coins began to circulate, controversy soon broke through InicIls V.D.B., which were located at the bottom of the back of the coins and referred to the designer of the wheat Penny Victor David Brenner. Many people thought that the initials of the sculptor of New York may not be on the coin and were too prominent. Other people did not understand the meaning of the initials or their purpose.

"V.D.B." Removed

In response to the controversy, the US Finance Minister Franklin Macveagh quickly ordered the removal of Brenner's initials. The American Mint in Philadelphia in 1909 produced about 28 million wheat pennies that represented initials. The US Mint in San Francisco was a year. Known as the 1909-S VDB wheat pennies, the rarity of coins crouched in San Francisco has made them one of the US coins that are the most popular among collectors.

50 -year -old run

wheat penny continued to be produced in 1958, with several changes. In 1918 there were controversial initialsLY restored. This time, however, were placed on the front of the coin, just below the Lincoln arm. In 1959, 50 years after wheat penny was first released, the well -known wheat pulleys on the back were replaced by the Lincoln Memorial, which officially ended Penny wheat running. This change was made in memory of 150. The anniversary of Lincoln's birth.

Composition

wheat pennies were made of different metals at different times, the main reason for changes was the needs of copper to be used for other purposes in 1943-1946, during World War II. Originally, wheat pennies were made of bronze, an alloy, which is 95% of copper, with another 5% tin and zinc alloy. In 1943, the composition was changed to steel, which resulted in a silver coin, which was often wrong for ten coins, an American 10-cent coin. A year later, the American Mint left the production of steel hellers and began to melt the used balls to produce brass wheat pennies, which were 95% copper, with most other 5% are zinc. Since 1946, after World War II, the original metal composition for wheat pennies was reused and continued until their run in 1958.

Dimensions

As well as American pennies produced recently, wheat pennies have a diameter of 0.75 inches (19.05 mm). They have about 0.06 inches (1.5 mm) thick. The weight of wheat penny depends on its metal composition. Those who are mostly copper weigh about 0.11 ounces (3.1 g). Wheat pennies, which are mostly steel, weigh about 0.095 ounces (2.7 g).