Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president of the United States, is on the U.S. penny.

Quick Scoop

  • The face on the front (the “heads” side) of the U.S. one‑cent coin is Abraham Lincoln.
  • Lincoln has appeared on the penny since 1909, when the design was introduced for the 100th anniversary of his birth.
  • This was the first time a real person (rather than a symbolic figure like Liberty) appeared on a circulating U.S. coin.

Tiny bit of story

Before Lincoln, early U.S. cents showed allegorical images like Liberty instead of actual people. In 1909, to honor Lincoln’s role in preserving the Union and ending slavery, the Mint chose his portrait for the new cent design, and it has stayed there ever since.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.