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An article explaining the reason Lincoln faces to the right on the US Cent.
Why does Lincoln face to the right on the U.S. cent while the other presidents face left?
This question gets asked quite often and I have heard a number of theories concerning it, many of them very imaginative, yet misguided. One popular belief is that he faces right because he was a Republican. Another theory is that he was assassinated so he faces the opposite way of the other presidents. This obviously ignores the fact that Kennedy on the half dollar faces left. However, many people probably forget we even have a half dollar since they so rarely see one. Another theory I recently read on the web is that the other presidents are turning their back on Lincoln because he freed the slaves. I have seen other theories, both serious and silly, that have been proposed.
The truth is actually much more interesting.
In 1908, President Theodore Roosevelt wanted a coin commemorating the upcoming centennial of the birth of President Lincoln to be minted. President Roosevelt chose Victor David Brenner to design this coin.
Roosevelt had become friendly with Brenner during the time that the artist had designed a service medal for the President to commemorate the opening of the Panama Canal. From this experience and from seeing his other works, Roosevelt chose Brenner, and Brenner alone, to design the Lincoln coin.
Prior to this selection, in 1907, Victor Brenner had created a number of Lincoln pieces as works of art including a particular, bronze relief plaque. These works may have been the reason that Roosevelt chose Brenner to design his Panama Canal medal. It is safe to say that Roosevelt was familiar with Brenner's Lincoln works when he asked him to design the Lincoln coin.
It should be very obvious from the picture below that Brenner adapted his design for the Lincoln cent from his own plaque in which Lincoln is facing to the right. This is often where the story ends and Lincoln facing right is attributed solely to 'designer's choice'.
However, Brenner's Lincoln plaque is not actually the beginning of this story.
On February 9, 1864, Abraham Lincoln had his photograph taken by Anthony Berger. For a while, this photograph was either lost or unknown. However, it resurfaced in 1906 and, looking at it, one can easily recognize that this picture is where Victor David Brenner almost certainly got the idea for his 1907 Lincoln plaque that he later adapted for the design of the Lincoln cent.
 1864 Anthony Berger Lincoln Photograph
So, it is indeed quite easy to say why Lincoln is facing right on the Lincoln cent. That is how he was sitting on February 9, 1864 when Anthony Berger took his picture.
Isn't coin history cool? :-)
Sources: Walter Breen's Encyclopedia of U.S. Coins http://www.coinbooks.org/club_nbs_esylum_v03n15.html http://members.aol.com/RVSNorton/Lincoln2.html http://www.usmint.gov/faqs/circulating_coins/index.cfm?action=circulating_faq |
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