The United States Mint launched the fourth 2009 Lincoln Bicentennial One-Cent Coin today in a ceremony held at the Ulysses S. Grant Memorial located below the west front of the U.S. Capitol Building. The coin, bearing a reverse (tails side) design emblematic of Abraham Lincoln’s presidency in Washington, D.C., is the final coin in the 2009 Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial One-Cent Program.

“The fourth and final 2009 Lincoln Bicentennial One-Cent Coin design evokes the historical challenges of Abraham Lincoln’s presidency,” said United States Mint Director Ed Moy. “The image of an incomplete U.S. Capitol symbolizes the unfinished business of a Nation torn apart by slavery and the Civil War.”

Donald R. Kennon, Chief Historian of the U.S. Capitol Historical Society, and Eileen R. Mackevich, Executive Director of the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission, joined in the ceremonial launch. Following the ceremony, adults exchanged their currency for two to six rolls of 2009 Lincoln “Presidency” Bicentennial One-Cent Coins. Children ages 18 and younger received a newly minted one-cent coin to commemorate the event.

The reverse of the 2009 Lincoln “Presidency” Bicentennial One-Cent Coin features the partially completed U.S. Capitol dome, symbolizing Lincoln’s resolve as he guided the country through its gravest crisis. Inscriptions on the reverse are UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, E PLURIBUS UNUM and ONE CENT. The coin’s obverse (heads side) features sculptor Victor David Brenner’s familiar image of President Lincoln, which debuted in 1909. Inscriptions on the obverse are IN GOD WE TRUST, LIBERTY and 2009.
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