Lincoln Shield Cent

The Lincoln Shield cent is the current one-cent piece of the United States, struck continuously since 2010 as the fourth reverse design used since the Lincoln cent's 1909 debut. It retains the familiar Victor David Brenner portrait of Abraham Lincoln on the obverse while introducing a modern shield motif on the reverse.

Although common in circulation and modest in collector value, the Shield cent continues an unbroken design lineage that began with the Lincoln Wheat cent in 1909. Collectors often assemble Shield cent sets by date and mint mark, watch for emerging doubled-die and repunched mint mark varieties, and track special finishes across proof, mint-state, and business-strike issues.

In 2009, the U.S. Mint issued four special reverse designs to mark Lincoln's bicentennial. Starting in 2010, a permanent reverse was needed, and a design by Lyndall Bass, engraved by Mint sculptor-engraver Joseph Menna, was selected, depicting a Union shield with thirteen stripes representing the original states, unified by a scroll bearing ONE CENT.

The shield deliberately echoes Lincoln's role in preserving the Union during the Civil War, continuing the practice of using Lincoln cent reverses to mark milestones in his life and legacy, following the Lincoln Memorial reverse of 1959–2008 and the four 2009 bicentennial designs.

Since 2010 the cent has been struck each year at the Philadelphia and Denver mints for circulation, with San Francisco striking proof versions for collector sets; the copper-plated zinc composition has remained unchanged from the post-1982 standard.

Obverse: Brenner's classic 1909 portrait of Abraham Lincoln facing right, with LIBERTY to the left, IN GOD WE TRUST above, and the date and mint mark below.

Reverse: A Union shield fills most of the field, with thirteen vertical stripes and a horizontal bar reading E PLURIBUS UNUM across the top; a scroll below the shield reads ONE CENT, and UNITED STATES OF AMERICA arcs above.

The coin measures 19 mm in diameter, is struck in copper-plated zinc, and has a plain edge. Mint marks (D for Denver, S for San Francisco proofs; none for Philadelphia) appear below the date on the obverse, just as on prior Lincoln cent types.

Most Lincoln Shield cents are common, worth face value in circulated grades since billions have been struck. Uncirculated rolls and mint-set specimens carry small premiums, and proof versions from annual proof sets are inexpensive collectibles.

Value is driven mainly by condition for special finishes (satin or reverse proof pieces from special Mint products) and by emerging mint errors or doubled dies, some of which have sold for tens to low hundreds of dollars when well documented and in high grade.