2009 Lincoln Cent - Back to Original Composition!?

[astrostu]

I was bored at work today so I opted to read the legislation authorizing the 2007-?? presidential dollar series, that also happens to authorize the gold buffalo bullion program, and the $10 24k gold first lady series, and says that the 1 cent should be re-designed (4 new reverses) but keep the VDB obverse in 2009.

 

Besides the incredible amount of space spent on praising Lincoln that the folks from KY, IL, and IN got inserted in there, I found it really weird that they are requiring the cent to go back to the original 1909 composiiton, which was 95% copper and 5% zinc/tin, and weighed 3.11 grams. That's 2.95 gms or 0.1055 oz of copper. At today's $3.40/lb, then that's about 2.2 cents worth of copper in every 1-cent coin.

 

So if the Mint makes 1 billion pennies, then it's going to lose about $12 million. Unless my math is totally off, then something tells me that they're going to have to change this law.

[chinook]

They will just make 100,000 matte proof commems and sell them for $129.95 each.

[truthteller]

They will just make 100,000 matte proof commems and sell them for $129.95 each.

 

 

 

 

 

TRUTH

[ldhair]

[DC Dawg]

Reread the legislation... the commem using the original content dated 2009 VDB will be a limited issue for collectors only. The Secretary of the Treasury will set the sales limit and add whatever premium they want. So the government will not loose money... they will probably make money and sell out of these coins.

 

Scott

[astrostu]

Ah yes ... well, 13 pages of legalese gets me confused. "The Secretary of the Treasury shall issue 1-cent coins in 2009 with the exact metallic content as the 1-cent coin contained in 1909 in such number as the Secretary determines to be appropriate for numismatic purposes."

[DC Dawg]

Ah yes ... well, 13 pages of legalese gets me confused. "The Secretary of the Treasury shall issue 1-cent coins in 2009 with the exact metallic content as the 1-cent coin contained in 1909 in such number as the Secretary determines to be appropriate for numismatic purposes."

Now you know what I go through on a daily basis while reading information security policies, procedures, standards, and laws!!

 

All this means is that the coins will be released for collectors and the limit will be set by the Secretary of the Treasury and not by statute. The "rumor" is that this will be an uncirculated 2009 VDB and 2009-S VDB proof coin that is the same composition and weight of the original (by statute) and using the original wheat ears design. The rumored limit is 100,000 coins of each type.

 

What a lot of people miss is that Public Law 109-145 Section 305 "asks" the Mint to use the same relief as the 1909 coins and not the flat relief used today:

 

It is the sense of the Congress that the original Victor David Brenner design for the 1-cent coin was a dramatic departure from previous American coinage that should be reproduced, using the original form and relief of the likeness of Abraham Lincoln, on the 1-cent coins issued in 2009.

 

For a coin that has been very maligned since the Mint announced that the price of tin and other costs pushed the production costs of the cent to 1.2-cents per coin, there will be a lot of action with our smallest denomination in 2009. It will be fun!!

 

Scott