Coin Blog

The mintage for the third design for the 2009 Lincoln Cents has been revealed. It is a step lower from the prior design, but still above the low level of the first design.

The 2009 Professional Life Cents had a combined mintage of 652 million. This is divided as 316 million coins produced at the Philadelphia Mint and 336 million coins produced at the Denver Mint.

The lowest combined mintage for 2009 Lincoln Cents remains as the Birthplace Cent with 634.8 million. The lowest individual coin mintage remains as the 2009-P Birthplace Cent at 284.4 million.

The latest figures are a contiuation of the low production experienced throughout the year. During 2008, the US Mint had produced more than 5 billion cents. This year they are on track to produce less than 3 billion across the four different designs. View complete 2009 Lincoln Cent mintages.

Yesterday the third 2009 Lincoln Cent design was released. This design features a young, professional Lincoln standing in front of the Illinois State Capitol building. The release into circulation was accompanied by an official ceremony and opportunities for exchanging coins at face value.

The launch ceremony fittingly took pace at the Old State Capitol in Springfield, Illinois. The ceremony was attended by United States Senator Dick Durbin, United States Mint Director Edmund Moy, and others.

Following the ceremony, there was a coin exchange where people could switch currency for fresh rolls of the new coins. This opportunity has provided a huge draw for past ceremonies.

The US Mint also hosted coin exchanges at two locations in Washington, DC.

Finally, the US Mint put Two Roll Sets of the new 2009 Lincoln Cents on sale on their website. The sets are offered for $8.95. This is quite a premium, but I guess its the price you have to pay if you can't make it to Springfield or Washington!

The US Mint is now done producing the second redesigned 2009 Lincoln Cent. This allows a determination of the final mintage for the Formative Years or "Rail Splitter" Penny.

The second design was released into circulation on May 14, 2009. The launch ceremony was held in Lincoln City, Indiana on the same day. The reverse image features a young Abraham Lincoln taking a break from rail splitting to read a book.

The Philadelphia Mint produced 376 million and the Denver Mint produced 363.6 million of the Rail Splitter Penny for a combined mintage of 739.6 million coins. This tops the mintage for the Birthplace or "Log Cabin" Penny design which had come in at 634.8 million coins.

The Lincoln Penny mintage has been closely watched since the levels are so much lower than the recent prior years. By comparison, in 2008 there were more than 5 billion pennies minted.

The mintage for the 2009 "Birthplace" Lincoln Cent has been revealed. Following the pattern set by several other coins released this year, the coin has one of the lowest mintages in decades. Previously the mintage for the Puerto Rico Quarter was revealed and it had the lowest mintage for a quarter since the 1960s.

The Philadelphia Mint produced 284.8 million of the 2009-P Birthplace Lincoln Cent. The Denver Mint produced 350 million of the 2009-D Birthplace Lincoln Cent. This makes a combined total of 634.8 million.

It looks like the high prices paid for these coins might actually be justified. Since 1975, all Lincoln Cents struck for circulation have had mintages in the billions. You have to go back all the way to the 1968-S Lincoln Cent to find a lower mintage than the 2009-P Birthplace Lincoln Cent.

Will the pattern of low mintages continue? You can follow the 2009 Lincoln Cent Mintages and see for yourself.

The first of the 2009 Lincoln Pennies is scheduled to be released on February 12, 2009.

To help celebrate Abraham Lincoln's 200th birthday, the US Mint has planned a series of four different reverse designs for the penny during 2009. These various designs will represent different stages of his life. The first design pictured below is a log cabin, which represents his humble beginnings in Kentucky.

The February 12, 2009 release date was selected since it is will be Lincoln's exact birthday.

The remaining three designs will be released approximately every three months throughout 2009. See all 2009 Lincoln Penny Release Dates.