Where's the beef?

The year was 1984 when Wendy's released their famous marketing "Where's the Beef?" campaign. I'm using an analogy to this slogan in jest as "Where's the Beard?" on the recent Lincoln cents. This post is somewhat related to my previous post about the Mint reverting to the older version of John Flanagan's Washington bust on the 2010-present quarters. This was a welcome reversion for many, based on the feedback I received. Apparently many disliked the "spaghetti-haired" Washington bust circa 1995 and particularly starting in 1999 with the State Quarters.

Most Lincoln "wheaties" from 1909-1958 don't have a lot of obverse bust hair and beard detail. There are particular years better than others, as with most coins, but the high-detail and strongly struck Lincoln Cents of this era are highly sought after and few and far between. Even after the update to the Lincoln Memorial reverse starting in 1959, the obverse detail was mushy at best through the mid-80s. I'm not a Lincoln buff, and the exact dates are not my point here.

My point is this: A noticeable increase in details of the Lincoln bust was clear by the 1990s and stronger than ever by the time of the 2009 Bicentennial of Lincoln's Birth issues. Then, at least on my 2010 examples of the Lincoln Cent, we lose this detail. I guess they reverted the design on the Lincoln Cent starting in 2010 also? I put a red arrow to highlight a curl of hair on the 2010 design that is not present on the busts from 1995-2009, but it looks like it might be on the 1945-D coin?? I don't have any particularly sharp wheat-back strikes, so I can't be for sure. I am presenting the designs in black and white to emphasize the detail, not the color.

The grades of the coins are:

1945-D, MS67RD

1995, MS68RD

2006, MS69RD SMS

2009, MS69RD SMS

2010-D, MS68RD SMS

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