Lincoln Memorial Cents

I STARTED COLLECTING coins in the mid 1950s, and like most collectors, then and now, I was hooked on Lincoln cents. At the time, all the Lincolns I encountered had wheat stalks on the reverse, were “Wheaties,” in other words.

The end to new Wheaties came with the 1958 cent, replaced by 1959 cents with a representation of the Lincoln Memorial on their reverses. 1959 was an auspicious year for me, as that’s when I graduated from high school.

Of course, the year was also the 50th anniversary of the Lincoln cent, which had begun in 1909, with Victor D. Brenner’s design. 1909 wasn’t just chosen at random, as it was the 100th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln’s birth on February 12, 1809. Obviously, that would make 1959 the 150th anniversary or sesquicentennial of Lincoln’s birth.

Frank Gasparro, an assistant to Chief Engraver Gilroy Roberts, submitted the design chosen for the memorial reverse. Gasparro’s design depicted a front view of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC, complete with the Lincoln statue visible in the center of the building. The designer’s initials, FG, are