Why does lincoln face right on the penny

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If you take an assortment of United States coins and look at them face-up, you'll notice that most of the portraits face left. The penny and the nickel, however, are different. Although there are several rather silly theories for why this is, the real explanations are pretty simple.

The Abraham Lincoln penny was minted in 1908 to commemorate the 100-year anniversary of Lincoln's birth. In 1907, President Theodore Roosevelt chose portraitist and sculptor Victor David Brenner to design the penny, probably because he admired Brenner's previous works of art. Those works included a bronze relief plaque bearing a portrait of Lincoln. Brenner adapted this design for the "heads," or obverse side of the penny. He based the plaque on a photograph of Lincoln taken on Feb. 9, 1864 by Anthony Berger. Lincoln faced right in the photo, so he faces right on the plaque and faces right on the penny.

Thomas Jefferson, on the other hand, started out facing left on the nickel in 1938. In 2003, the President enacted a law to revise the nickel in order to commemorate the bicentenary of the Lewis and Clark expedition and the Louisiana Purchase. The U.S. Mint made this revision into a series. On the 2004 nickel of the series, Jefferson still faces left and only the reverse side of the nickel changed to reflect its theme. On the 2005 nickel, Jefferson faces right, with the word "Liberty," based on his own handwriting, engraved next to him. In 2006, he faces forward, in an engraving based on a portrait done by Rembrandt Peale in 1800, right before Jefferson became President. The 2006 nickel is the first circulating U.S. coin that does not show a president in profile.

For more information on currency and related topics, try the links on the next page.

Darla B. writes: While my daughter was playing with some change, my husband noticed that President Lincoln is the only President facing to the right of all the coins (quarter, dime, nickle (sic), penny). Is there any history or special meaning behind this?

This is a question of heraldry, nothing more. In Europe, post middle ages, when a new monarch was installed, his head or bust faced the opposite direction of the preceding monarch. I guess it made it more obvious that a new monarch was ruling, especially when there were family resemblances. Alternating the facing direction on coins was a sure way of getting people to notice the change. That long lasting English tradition was broken in the 20th century. King George V, Edward VIII (abdicated), and George VI all faced to the left. When Queen Elizabeth II was coronated the tradition was resumed. Her bust faces to the right.

Though the United States isn’t a “royalist” country, we did bring some European traditions to U.S. coinage. From the very beginnings of U.S. coinage in 1793, the alternating head design loosely prevailed, even though the portraits on coins were of an allegorical Liberty instead of an actual person. Mint workers here were very much aware of the coinage practices in other countries. Until the 20th century, the pattern of reversing busts when coinage designs changed was roughly adhered to. For example, the Draped Bust type dimes of 1796-1797 show a bust of Liberty facing right. When the design was replaced by the Capped Bust type in 1809 the new bust faced left.

The Lincoln cent was the first United States regular issue coin to show a president. It replaced the “Indian” cent, an allegorical figure of Liberty, facing left. To follow the “tradition”, Lincoln’s head faces right. The reversal of the bust position holds true on the other early 20th century coins. The Winged Liberty dime, bust facing left, replaced the Barber dime, Liberty facing right. The tradition breaks here as the Roosevelt dime faces left also.

The Barber quarter, bust facing right, was replaced with the Standing Liberty design but when Washington is placed on the quarter in 1932 the bust faces left. After the Barber design was discarded in 1916, there were no busts on half dollars until the Franklin half in 1948 and that bust faced right. When J.F. Kennedy’s bust replaced Franklin’s in 1964, it followed the tradition and his bust faces left.

There may be heraldic meaning why coin designers decide to “break” with tradition. The direction of faces, arrangement of shields, use of allegorical figures and architectural devices all have meaning and are a short hand way to communicate an idea or sentiment on a coin or medal.

There is no law that demands this, just tradition. Note that the tradition was broken with the Morgan Dollar (facing left) and the successor, the Peace Dollar (also facing left) and that successor the Eisenhower dollar (left) and then restored on the SBA dollar (right).

To learn more about symbolism on coins and medals start with the study of Heraldry. You can get more information from your Public Library, or the Numismatic Links Page on this site. A good inexpensive book on the subject is the reprint of the Stanley Paul & Co. book first published in 1915. The 1994 edition is available in paperback by the name of Concise Encyclopedia of Heraldry by Guy Cadogan Rothery, published by Senate, London.

See: The Heraldic Eagle: The Story Behind The Bird

Dec 7, 2013coindoc