A Lincoln With A Story

A few months ago, I found this Lincoln Cent in the parking lot outside my apartment. The date appears to be 2018. But the date doesn't matter. What matters to me is what it represents.

I see this coin as a metaphor for several things. One, the way our country is currently divided. Uncertainty at home, with people being kidnapped and murdered in our streets and citizens on both sides debating what it means. Abroad, our country started a new war and it's anybody's guess as to when it will be over and what the fallout will be. The stress and adverse feelings we feel are symbolized by the torture this penny has seen.

Closer to home, this cent represents what I see as divisiveness amongst coin collectors. I was taken aback by so-called numismatists who proudly beat their chests and sounded the trumpets when the government announced it was discontinuing this coin. I found this distasteful because I think it's fair to say that most collectors in the USA got their start collecting Lincolns. It was so much fun: the thrill of the hunt, of buying a blue Whitman folder (sometimes just like your dad's) and marveling at all the empty holes challenging us to be filled. One by one, they were filled until just one coin was missing. And then came the magic moment, when after months or even years of searching, that missing date popped up in change. To know that you had finally completed a project that had taken so long to accomplish was truly wonderful! (Though I've checked my change religiously every day since 1979, a 1979-D Jefferson nickel—with an unremarkable mintage of almost 326 million--has yet to land in my palm. Just think: 47 years and that project is still waiting to be completed. And it will, one day, even if I have to break down and buy one.)

But there was another thrill. Youngsters who had recently learned about the power of money discovered they could have their own additional buying power when they found out that sometimes a penny is worth more than a penny. What a magical revelation! It almost made us feel like adults.

But none of that seemed to matter to people who dislike this coin. All they're thinking about is the economy, the GNP, efficiency in government spending. all incredibly boring topics. And they love to insult the coin, calling it a "Zinc-oln," because of the cheap materials used for manufacture. But an uncirculated Zincoln looks just as nice as a regular copper penny! And economy, shma-conomy! Coin collectors don't want to talk about economics, they want to talk about finding a 2025 coin in change! They want to talk about the latest BU coin they bought! They want to talk about the beauty of a shiny Morgan silver dollar! Or their first gold coin! Or look at a cool error!

The Lincoln Cent is going the way of the dodo and it's a shame. Yes, I know the argument—it costs more to make than it's worth. But the coin is a representation of many good things in our country: honoring one of our greatest presidents, a workhorse in the economy, a way for youngsters to start a hobby and a way for parents and kids to bond over a similar interest. And I'd be remiss if I didn't mention penny candy, which many of us enjoyed as perhaps the first purchases of our young lives. For seasoned collectors, it boasts more than a few fascinating and key dates with their own stories: 1909-SVDB, 1922 Plain, 1955 double die, and so on.

This coin pictured here was once a beautiful, brilliant uncirculated penny that had a bright future. How it ended up like this is anybody's guess. But the fact that I found in a parking lot and it is now safe in my collection makes me feel good. It's the least a coin collector could do.