In 1909, the 100th Birthday of Abraham Lincoln was celebrated by ending the short reign of the Indian Head Penny and introducing the 1909 Lincoln Wheat Back Penny.  50 years later, the wheat back was dropped in favor of the Lincoln Memorial located in Washington DC.  In the Spring of 2006 Copper and Zinc, the main alloys used to make the Lincoln Penny finally outpaced the actual face value of the penny itself.  This left the US Mint and the Treasury Department in a quandry.  Should the Lincoln Penny be discontinued due to the production cost exceeding the face value or should the Mint continue to make the beautiful red coins?

The answer seems simple but is actually quite complex.  One would think that if the cost exceeded the value that the Mint would simply stop producing the Penny and round everything to the nearest nickel.  Simple is as simple goes, however.

In 2009 the Lincoln Penny is set to change with four different reverses celebrating four distinct phases of Lincoln's life.  A Lincoln Penny with a new "permanent" reverse is set to enter circulation in 2010.  The US Mint, which has finally realized what a profit maker it can be, sees the Lincoln Penny Opportunity upcoming as a huge money maker.  Millions if not Billions of the Pennies (the four set for 2009 and the "new" penny in 2010) will be promptly removed from circulation by the millions of people who have been attracted to the coin collecting hobby through the Statehood Quarters (set to expire at the end of 2008).

While the penny is costing the Mint roughly $.003 more than the face value of $.01, the temporary increased cost will be swallowed up a thousand times over with the minting of the new Lincoln Penny.

It is an exciting time in the history of numismatics.  The end of the Lincoln "Memorial Reverse" is coming soon which means that the Memorial Reverses will soon be nearly as rare as the Wheat Backs.  If you don't have a Lincoln Penny Set yet, get one NOW!  The prices are already skyrocketing.  If you wait until the Memorial Reverse is gone, you will have definately waited to long.

The Lincoln Penny is here to stay, don't let anyone else tell you otherwise.