Handmade Copper Wheat Penny Coin Rings

Handmade Copper Coin Rings are made from a Wheat Penny Coin (1909-1958).  These handmade Copper Coin Rings can be made with the date side (head's), or tails side (wheat side) on the outside of the ring.  
 
This item is custom-made.  It is made when the order is placed.  Please allow 10 to 15 days before this item will be available for local delivery, or shipping.  Do not hesitate to contact us with any questions about your order.  
 
History of the United States Wheat Penny (1909-1958)
 
United States "Wheat Pennies" are one-cent coins that have a portrait of Abraham Lincoln on the obverse, (head's side), and two stalks of wheat on the reverse, (tail's side). They were minted by the United States Mint from 1909 to 1958, as part of a revamp in the American coinage commissioned by President Theodore Roosevelt.  They are also known as "Wheaties" or "Wheatbacks". 
 
In 1908, the U.S. Mint contracted sculptor Victor D. Brenner to design the new cent.  They wanted the new coin to depict Abraham Lincoln, in honor of the centennial year of his birth.  It was the first widely circulating coin to feature a United States President.
 
The cent was struck in 95% copper, until 1943 when copper was needed for the war (World War II) and the penny's composition changed to zinc-coated steel for a year.  There were a few error coins the following year that were mistakenly made on the steel planchets, these are quite rare and valuable pennies!
 
The wheat cent reverted to its 95% copper composition, and in 1959 the wheat design was replaced by Frank Gasparro's Lincoln Memorial reverse design.
 
Brenner's design for the wheat penny was very similar to one of his previous works, a desk plaque of Abraham Lincoln for the Gorham Manufacturing Company that he made in 1907.  The design features Abraham Lincoln facing right on the obverse, and the reverse features two stalks of durum wheat around the edge of the coin, framing the words "ONE CENT" and "UNITED STATES OF AMERICA" Along the top edge we see the motto "E PLURIBUS UNUM".
 
A few coins of note are the 1909-S VDB and the 1909 VDB these coins minted featured Brenner's initials on the reverse, at the bottom edge of the coin. The initials were removed as they were controversial and viewed as advertising, but in 1918 the initials were added back in, much smaller and this time on the obverse of the coin, right near where Lincoln's shoulder meets the edge of the coin.