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Consign

Lot 389

1909-1974 Wheat and 1941-1974 Lincoln Books of Pennies

Sold December 12, 2025

Price realized
$66
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Price realized is the winning bid (hammer price) and excludes buyer’s premium.

About this lot

Estimated Value: $150-250

Origin: United States

Denomination: One Cent

Year: 1909-1940 and 1941-1974

Mint: Philadelphia, Denver, and San Francisco

Grade/Condition: Various Conditions

Metal: Silver

Weight (+/- 0.2g): Estimated Total: 1,276.20 Grams

Additional Description: The Lincoln Wheat Cent series, spanning 1909 to 1958, and its continuation through the Lincoln Memorial design of 1959 to 1974, together form one of the most familiar and enduring narratives in American coinage. Introduced in 1909 to commemorate the centennial of Abraham Lincoln’s birth, it was the first circulating U.S. coin to feature a real historical figure. Sculptor Victor David Brenner’s portrait of Lincoln captures quiet resolve and humanity, qualities that resonated deeply with a nation still shaped by Lincoln’s legacy. The reverse of the early Wheat Cents, framed by two sheaves of wheat, symbolizes agricultural abundance and national unity. The 1909 Philadelphia issue bearing Brenner’s initials, *V.D.B.*, at the bottom of the reverse is especially prized; the initials were soon removed after public criticism, making these first coins a cornerstone of the series. Struck in 95 percent bronze, the Wheat Cents accompanied Americans through two world wars, the Depression, and an era of profound social change, becoming a fixture of both commerce and memory. In 1959, the reverse design was replaced by Frank Gasparro’s depiction of the Lincoln Memorial, aligning the coin more closely with mid-century ideals of permanence and national reflection. The Lincoln cents of 1941 through 1974 thus bridge two artistic interpretations of the same subject; one pastoral and early twentieth-century, the other neoclassical and civic. Together, the Wheat and Lincoln Memorial coins trace an unbroken line of American identity in copper, from the age of Theodore Roosevelt’s design renaissance to the dawn of the modern era.

Lot details

Lot
389
Closed
December 12, 2025
Sold $66
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