To celebrate the bicentennial of the birth of Abraham Lincoln, four different reverse designs were released for the 2009 Lincoln Cent. The designs represented different stages in the life of the 16th President, depicting his birth and early childhood, formative years, professional life, and presidency.
Mintages for the 2009 Lincoln Cents were at extremely low mintages relative to the prior Lincoln Memorial Cent. In addition to the excitement about the new designs, collectors had to contend with much fewer coins to go around and more fragmented distribution. These factors provided an instant allure to the series, likely causing more quantities than normal to be saved from circulation.
2009 Bicentennial Lincoln Cent Notes:
- Each of the four different designs were produced for circulation at the Philadelphia and Denver Mints. This makes for a total of 8 regular issues for the one year series.
- The highest mintage coin was the 2009-P Formative Years Lincoln Cent at 376,000,000.
- The lowest mintage coin was the 2009-P Presidency Lincoln Cent at 129,600,000.
- The average mintage across the eight different issues of the series was 294,250,000. This compares to an average mintage of more than 4 billion for the prior Lincoln Cent series.
- Across all circulation strike issues for the 2009 Lincoln Cents, there were 2,345,600,000 coins produced. This compares to total circulating coin production of more than 400 billion for the prior Lincoln Memorial Cents.
- The San Francisco Mint also produced Proof versions for the 2009 Lincoln Cents that each have a mintage of 2,995,615.
2009 Bicentennial Lincoln Cent Mintages:
| Issue | Mintage |
|---|---|
| 2009 Birth and Early Childhood | 284,400,000 |
| 2009 Birth and Early Childhood Satin Finish | 784,614 |
| 2009-D Birth and Early Childhood | 350,400,000 |
| 2009-D Birth and Early Childhood Satin Finish | 784,614 |
| 2009-S Proof Birth and Early Childhood | 2,995,615 |
| 2009 Formative Years | 376,000,000 |
| 2009 Formative Years Satin Finish | 784,614 |
| 2009-D Formative Years | 363,600,000 |
| 2009-D Formative Years Satin Finish | 784,614 |
| 2009-S Proof Formative Years | 2,995,615 |
| 2009 Professional Life | 316,000,000 |
| 2009 Professional Life Satin Finish | 784,614 |
| 2009-D Professional Life | 336,000,000 |
| 2009-D Professional Life Satin Finish | 784,614 |
| 2009-S Proof Professional Life | 2,995,615 |
| 2009 Presidency | 129,600,000 |
| 2009 Presidency Satin Finish | 784,614 |
| 2009-D Presidency | 198,000,000 |
| 2009-D Presidency Satin Finish | 784,614 |
| 2009-S Proof Presidency | 2,995,615 |
