How the Penny Got its Face

Updated July 24, 2020 | Infoplease Staff

The Question:

Line up the nickel, the dime, the quarter, and the penny. Why are the other presidents turning their backs on Abraham Lincoln?

The Answer:

According to the U.S. Mint, The likeness of President Abraham Lincoln on the penny is an adaption of a plaque executed by portraitist and sculptor Victor David Brenner. President Theodore Roosevelt was so impressed with Mr. Brenner's design of a Lincoln plaque that he recommended to the Secretary of the Treasury that the design be placed on a coin to be issued in the Lincoln Centennial Year, 1909.

The direction that Lincoln faces on the cent was not mandated-this was simply the choice of the designer.

-The Editors

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