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 YOUNG NUMISMATISTS
 American Numismatic Association
1
your newsletter
News fromthe ANA
National Coin Week
This year’s National Coin Week theme is
Change in Money: Cowriesto Credit Cards
and the will be heldfrom April 15-21. Every year duringthe third full week of April, the ANAand its members celebrate NationalCoin Week with exhibits, educationalresources, presentations and other activities at civic centers, libraries andschools to let the world know aboutthe joys of collecting and studyingcoins and other forms of money. The89th annual event will focus on howmoney has changed over the years andthe innovations that have allowedthose changes to occur. For moreinformation about National CoinWeek,click here.
Upcoming Events
Scholarship recipients will beannounced by early April for 
Summer Seminar
, June 23-29 andJune 30-July 6. Start planning your week in Colorado Springs by viewingthe Course catalog
here
.The ANA hopes to see you at the 2012
Denver National Money Show
, May10-12. The application deadline for 
Collector Exhibits
is April 13, andthe application deadline to
be a page
 is April 1.
A publication for young numismatists, written by young numismatists
The Brief History ofCents
William Catherwrites about thehistory of the one-cent piece.
Page 2
Changes to Coinsand Currency:What to Keep andWhat to Change
Erik Elbiehexplains thechanges to money.
Page 4
Long BeachConvention Report
Cole Schenewerk’sreport on the LongBeach Convention.Read all about it!
Page 5
World Currency Contest
An update on theWorld CurrencyContest, includingthe winners and judges.
Page 6
Ways to GetInvolved
Looking for moreways to getinvolved as aYoungNumismatist?Read on!
Page 6
 YourNewsletter Auction
Two items are up for auction! Bidwith your YN Auction Dollars.Bidding ends April16, 2012.
Page 7
 
 
 A Quarterly Newsletter
Winter 2012This year’s event includes many activities,including a video scavenger hunt, club triviachallenge, an open house at the Money Museum, as well as the opening of a NewExhibit at the museum:
The History of  Money.
What’s In This Issue?
 
 YOUNG NUMISMATISTS2
 American Numismatic Association
The Brief History of Pennies 
By William Cather
Cents and half cents were the first coins struck bythe U.S. Mint, before nickels, dimes, quarters, etc. Thefirst large cent was minted in the first half of 1793, andwas a larger version of today’ssmall cent. This was minted atthe Philadelphia Mint, whichwas also the first U.S. Mint.The first variety of the large centwas the Flowing Hair varietywith a chain reverse. The rest of the Flowing Hairs’ reverses wasthe wreath reverse, which wasminted for the rest of 1793.The second type of large cents was the Liberty Capvariety. These had the same wreath reverse design as theFlowing Hair variety large cent. This variety was mintedonly at the Philadelphia Mint from 1793-1796. During thetime that the Liberty Cap variety was minted there wereseveral changes in the dies such as the head of 1793, headof 1794, etc.After the Liberty Cap variety was minted, theDraped Bust was introduced in 1796. This bust designwas minted until 1807 at the Philadelphia Mint. This typeof large cent has the wreath reverse, which is the sametype of reverse as the previous large cents. The DrapedBust variety had many different kinds of dies, such as thereverse of 1794, reverse of 1795, and the reverse of 1797,etc. Along with these changes, dies had many errors too,such as the 1/000 error, corrected fraction error, 1801reverse 3 errors, etc.In 1808, the Classic Head variety wasintroduced; this variety was minted until 1814 by thePhiladelphia Mint. The reverse is a wreath but notthe same style as the previous large cents. TheClassic Head variety has only one die, but has anumber of errors such as the 1811 last 1 over 0 error, 1814 plain 4, and the 1814 crosslet 4.The last type of large cent was the Liberty Head variety,minted from 1816 to1857. This type of large cent wasminted at the Philadelphia Mint and has two dies, theMatron Head die (1816-1835) and the Matron HeadModified or “Young Head” die (1836-1857). The varietyhad a very large number of errors,such as 1819 9 over 8, 1819large date, 1819 small date, andseveral more errors after those.The Act of February 21,1857 “stated that instead of largecents; small cents will beminted.” Unlike today’s centsthat weigh 2.5 grams, these centsweighed 4.67 grams. The new type of cent was called theFlying Eagle cent. It was only minted from 1856-1858, atthe Philadelphia Mint. Flying Eagle cents had only 3errors, all during the year 1858. These errors are: 1858large letters, 1858 8 over 7, and 1858 small letters.After the Flying Eagle cent was minted, the IndianHead cent was minted from 1859-1909. The Indian Headcent was only minted at the Philadelphia Mint until 1908,when both Philadelphia and San Francisco minted thecoin. There are two varieties, one which was only mintedin 1859. The reason it is a separate variety is that it had noshield at the top of the wreath on the reverse. All thevariety 2 pennies have a shield on the reverse of the penny.The Indian Head penny has a few errors that have occurredsuch as the 1875 dot reverse and 1888 last 8 over 7.From 1909-1958 the Lincoln, Wheat Earsreverse cent was minted at thePhiladelphia, San Francisco, andDenver Mints. They changed theIndian Head design to theLincoln, Wheat Ears reverse tocommemorate the 100
th
 anniversary of Lincoln’s birth.There is only one variety made.There were several errors: the 1936double die obverse, 1917 double die obverse,
 
 YOUNG NUMISMATISTS American Numismatic Association
3
1944-D D over S, and many more.The design changed once again for the 150
th
 anniversary of Lincoln’s birth in 1959 and lasted until2008. This cent was minted at the Philadelphia, SanFrancisco, and Denver Mints. The design was the same asthe Lincoln, Wheat Ears reverse design except instead of the wheat ears on the reverse it has a picture of the LincolnMemorial. The Lincoln, Memorial reverse design hadonly one type of die.In 2009, a design change was made to the centonce more to commemorate the 200
th
anniversary of Lincoln’s birth. Four designs were created: one of hisLincoln’s birth and early childhood; one of his youngyears in Indiana; one of his professional life while inIllinois; and one of his presidency in Washington D.C.The obverse of the cent is still the image of Lincoln.The image of Lincoln has been used since thecentennial of his birth in 1909. These cents wereminted only in 2009 at the Philadelphia, San Francisco,and Denver Mints.The newest design of the cent is the Lincoln,Shield reverse, minted from 2010 to present date at thePhiladelphia, San Francisco, and Denver mints. Therehas been only one variety so far for the Lincoln, Shieldreverse cent, and no recorded errors.
Notes
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