Coin of the Month

Abraham Lincoln Presidential $1 Coin

Abraham Lincoln, 16th President of the United States (from 1861 to 1865), is the subject of the 16th coin in the Presidential $1 Coin Program.  His determination to preserve the Union during the Civil War and to abolish slavery helped to make him one of our country's greatest presidents.

Lincoln's appearance on this coin got me thinking...could it be that Lincoln is the most-coined president of all?  So I made a list of all the coins I could think of that bear different images of this great man.  Here it is:

• Front of the one-cent coin since 1909
• Back of the one-cent coin (inside the Lincoln Memorial) from 1959 to 2008
• Front of three Mount Rushmore commemorative coins from 1991
• Back of the Illinois quarter of 2003
• Back of the South Dakota quarter of 2006 (Mt. Rushmore)
• Back of the one-cent coin of 2009 (youth in Kentucky design)
• Back of the one-cent coin of 2009 (career in Illinois design)
• Front of the Abraham Lincoln commemorative dollar coin of 2009
• Front of the 2010 Presidential $1 Coin

I do believe that gives Lincoln more coin appearances (11) than any other president.  George Washington is a close second (10) with a 1793 halfpenny, the front of the modern quarter, the backs of two quarters (South Dakota and New Jersey), commemorative coins from 1900, 1982, 1999, and the three Mt. Rushmore coins from 1991...unless I missed any!

Of course, since Lincoln is the first president who ever appeared on a circulating American coin, he had a head start!  Read more about him on the Lincoln Presidential $1 Coin page.

—Inspector Collector