What Was The First US Coin With A Real Person On It?

James Longacre, designer of the Indian cent, is believed to have used his daughter, Sarah, as a model for that coin. It's no wonder that the "Indian" looks anything but Native American!

No, Washington came before Roosevelt. The Washington quarter was issued in 1932, the Jefferson nickel in 1938, the Roosevelt dime in 1946, and the Franklin half in 1948. If you want to count images or real mammals in the list after Lincoln, the Buffalo nickel (1913) was purportedly an image of Black Diamond, a North American bison at what is now the Central Park Zoo.

No. The Washington quarter came in 1932, the Jefferson nickel in 1938, the Roosevelt dime in 1946, and finally the Franklin half in 1948.
It looks like both of you answered while I was typing.

And of course, every dead President and First Lady ever on the golden dollar and $10 1/2 oz gold coins.

I wanted to post the same thing: the Columbus half dollar. (Immediately followed by the Isabella Quarter.)

I think there were a few pre-federal coins that featured real people (notably Washington). They are all very rare, however.

Depends on how you define "US Coin"

If we exclude medals, tokens, commemoratives, and restrict the definition to circulating denominated coins in the United States, Lincoln wins.

However, open up the window just slightly to allow territories and not just states, and you might remember that in 1883 the United States minted multiple denominations of circulating silver coins for the Kingdom of Hawaii under the rule of King David Kalakaua I. Hawaii had not yet been annexed by the United States (that happened 15 years later) but the coins were minted in the United States! By 1883 the United States already had a noticeable presence in the islands: wealthy businessmen in the land-theft business and soldiers garrisoned to "protect" the monarchy after the Riots of '74. So if we assume that the Hawaiian coinage continued to circulate there after annexation, while Hawaii was still a territory, then the 1883 issue of Kalakaua predates Old Abe's appearance by 11 years (became a US Territory in 1898 - Lincoln shows up in 1909.)

If you go even further back, I'd vote for Washington "cent" from 1792.

Okay, since circulating coins weren't specified, this means that pattern coins count. Here's an 1863 Washington Two Cent Piece, Judd-305, Pollock-370, R.4 ...




Then too, here's the earliest U.S. coin, bearing the portrait of a living person, King George, that I have in my counterstamp collection ... (stamped by a Tory?) ...









Oh, and let's not forget the 1847 Hawaiian Cents that were designed in the U.S. and believed to have been struck at a private mint. These bear the image of King Kamehameha III.