Lincoln Memorial Pennies (1959-2008)

Replacing wheat pennies in 1959, Lincoln Memorial cents achieved several firsts. Notably, it marked the first time a building was used on a circulating U.S. coin. As with the real memorial, you can see Lincoln on the coin sitting between the pillars, making it one of the only U.S. coins to feature the same person on both sides.

Pennies with the Lincoln Memorial reverse also had several composition changes throughout their run due to rising copper prices during that period.

1959-1962: 95% copper, 5% tin and zinc

1962-1982: 95% copper, 5% zinc.

1982-2008: 97.5% zinc, 2.5% copper (plated)

For collectors looking for Lincoln Memorial cent zinc coins from the 1982 transition year, you can distinguish them by their weight. The majority copper coins weigh around 3.11 grams while the majority zinc coins weigh around 2.5 grams.