The penny has had a long and distinguished history in the annals of United States coinage. The small penny we know has its beginnings in the Flying Eagle cent which began production in 1857. This penny was produced for three years.
In 1857 the US Mint began production of the Indian Head Penny, which was circulated from that year until 1909 when it was superseded by the Lincoln Head Penny, which continues in production today.
The Lincoln Penny was produced from 1909 until 1959 with two sheave of wheat on the reverse. These are the so called Wheat Pennies, or Wheaties. Although the Lincoln Penny has been changed in composition over time, the design has remained basically the same since 1950 when the Memorial cent came into production.
The small penny we know today has circulated for 151 years with only four major design pages. © 2012 Hobby Hobnob Back to Coin Collecting
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