Wheat Penny 1909
1909 Penny
Zoom This! The Wheat penny, also called the Wheat cent, was in production from 1909 to 1958. This penny, made in 1918, was the first year that the designer, Victor David Brenner, put his initials on the Lincoln side of the penny. The 1918 penny is composed of 95% copper and 5% tin and zinc, so the penny weighs about 3.11 grams. The front side has Lincoln’s image on it, and the reverse side has two wheat stalks on it. The writing on the back, from top to bottom, is as follows: E. Pluribus Unum, One Cent, and United States of America. The front is like the pennies in circulation. From top to bottom, it reads: In God We Trust, Liberty, and the date, 1918. Pennies back then had the same value as the pennies we use today, however since inflation wasn’t nearly as high back then, the penny was more practical. This penny is only worth about 12 cents, but others go for thousands of dollars. Back then, there was a controversy on the fact that Brenner had his initials under the wheat stalks of the penny. This was later changed to under Lincoln’s shoulder, and still is found there.
Wheat pennies were minted around the country, but one penny in particular was minted in San Francisco, California, in 1909 that had the initials V.D.B. engraved beneath the wheat stalks on the back. These coins are very valuable today.