"Your pennies are now collector's items. The last penny was minted Wednesday at the U.S. Mint in Philadelphia, spelling the end of America's longest-running coin design. More than Andy Warhol's Marilyn Monroe or Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa, it's sculptor and medalist Victor David Brenner's profile of Abraham Lincoln on the humble penny that's actually believed to be the most-reproduced piece of art in the history of the world:"
"The penny's rise to government-issued pop art status begins in 1793 when the Mint's first one-cent coin went into circulation. That first copper coin showed an image of a long-haired woman representing liberty, a design element that was mandated by law. The Coinage Act of 1792 required coins have an "impression emblematic of liberty," though it was later changed, paving the way for Lincoln to be featured."
Minting of the penny has ended, with the final penny struck at the U.S. Mint in Philadelphia. Victor David Brenner's profile of Abraham Lincoln appears on the obverse and is considered perhaps the most-reproduced artwork, with the Mint estimating about 300 billion pennies still in circulation. The penny will remain legal tender. The first U.S. one-cent coin debuted in 1793 and originally featured a long-haired woman symbolizing liberty due to the Coinage Act of 1792. Early reverses showed a chain of 15 links later replaced by a wreath because chains were misinterpreted as symbols of slavery. Lawmakers originally avoided presidents on coins to distance U.S. currency from monarchic traditions.
Read at Fast Company
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