VDB "Public Outcry"

The outcry was not so much a public one, more likely a display of jealousy by Chief Engraver Charles Barber whose own initial typically consisted of a single inconspicuous B. Barber was also not pleased with President Theodore Roosevelt "meddling" in Mint affairs. Roosevelt sought out artists from outside the Mint to create new designs. Augustus Saint-Gaudens created the Indian Head $10 and Saint-Gaudens $20. Brenner was commissioned to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Lincoln's birth.

Obviously, Barber did not think outside artists were necessary as he deemed himself something of Mint royalty. His father, William Barber, was the fifth Chief Engraver from 1869-1879. I will also note that Charles E. Barber died in 1917 and the VDB initials returned to the base of Lincoln's bust in 1918.

I have never seen any contemporary evidence of any "great public outcry", but Coppercoins tells me that he has seen newspaper reports from back then with the complaints. As to why there would be dislike, you will note that on all of the other US coins at the time that did have the designers initials it is a single initial, very small, and not prominently placed. On the Lincoln Cent it is three initials, they are larger, and they are rather boldly placed as compared to the other coins. There may also have been some input from Barber, because when they suggested replacing the initials with a single small B, he objected. And it could have been worse, originally Brenner was going to put his entire last name on the reverse.

Great post biokemist! That is perfect. Couldnt say it any better.

Barber may have had his virtues, but breathtaking artistic design skills was not among them.

There was a great article in COINage February 2009 titled " Victor David Brenner". "President Theodore Roosevelt admired Brenner's work so much that he bullied the Treasury bureaucracy into using the artist's Lincoln sculpture on a circulating U.S. coin. The Lincoln Cent debuted on Aug. 2,1909 as the first-ever regular U.S. coin to depict an identifiable person."
The article goes on to explain how some members of Congress began complaining that Brenners initials were to prominent. How the Philadelphia Mint struck 28 million and the San-Francisco Mint produced only 484,000 VDB cents before the Treasury decided to remove the "VDB". It also states that anti-Jewish prejudice help fuel the campaign to remove the initials. Brenner was probably the only Jewish numismatic artist working in the U.S. at that time.
"Brenner also conceived the reverse, with its now familiar pair of stylized wheat ears"
Thank you Dom Yanchunas the author of the article. Brian

One thing you definitely get from reading coin history - Barber was a first class boob when it came to rejecting others' ideas and preserving his own skin. He also has a legacy for creating the most bland looking designs in all of US coinage. The sad thing is, he probably couldn't fathom at the time that this is how history would remember him.