1959 Lincoln Memorial Cent
Circulation strike struck at the Philadelphia Mint · 609,715,000 made
- Mintage
- 609,715,000
- Metal
- 95% copper, 5% tin and zinc
- Weight
- 3.11 g
- Diameter
- 19.05 mm
Original illustration. Tap to flip. Not a photograph of the actual coin.
Face value · Metal value · Small premium · Collector premium · Significant rarity. We use bands because prices change daily.
What is a 1959 Lincoln Memorial Cent worth?
A worn 1959 is a spender: face value. A bright uncirculated one, or one with a known error, is worth setting aside.
What would make yours worth more:
- Uncirculated condition with full original luster
- Full red copper color (labeled RD) rather than brown
- A die variety or minting error
For market prices, check recent sold results for certified coins in the same grade.
Quick answers
- Is the 1959 Lincoln Memorial Cent rare?
- Not in absolute terms: 610 million were made. It is one of the smaller runs in the series, though, so uncirculated examples are worth a little more than most dates.
- Where is the mint mark on a 1959 Lincoln Memorial Cent?
- On the obverse, below the date. Philadelphia cents have no mint mark (except the 2017-P, which is a Lincoln Shield cent).
- Which Philadelphia dates near 1959 are scarcer?
- The 1960 at 586,405,000, the 1962 at 606,045,000. So the 1959 is on the scarcer side for those years.
- How many 1959 Lincoln Memorial Cent coins were made?
- 609,715,000.
What to check on your 1959
- There's no mint mark on this one, so the date and condition are what matter.
- Proof or circulation strike? A proof has mirror-like fields and frosted design details and was sold to collectors, not released in change. The 1959 Lincoln Memorial Cent Proof (1,149,291 made) is the one to compare with.
- Judge the grade under good light. Wear first shows on Lincoln's cheekbone and hair. Doubled-die varieties from 1969-S, 1972, 1983 (reverse), 1984 and 1995 are the big money coins, so always check the lettering under magnification.
With 609,715,000 made, you can still find a 1959 in rolls, old jars and inherited collections. The coins worth keeping are the uncirculated ones and any with a doubled die or other variety.
The story of the 1959
1959 was the first year of the Lincoln Memorial Cent. Philadelphia struck 609,715,000 of them. The next year it made 586 million (1960).
1959-D came to 1.3 billion, so neither mint's 1959 coin is much scarcer than the other.
Philadelphia struck the Lincoln Memorial Cent in 50 issues between 1959 and 2008. By mintage this one lands in the scarcer half, while the key for that mint is the 1965 (301,470,000).
It also marks a change of metal: 1959 is the first year of the Lincoln Memorial Cent in 95% copper, 5% tin and zinc (bronze), which lasted until 1961.
The Memorial reverse and the coin shortage (1959 to 1964)
For the 150th anniversary of Lincoln's birth, Frank Gasparro's Lincoln Memorial reverse replaced the wheat ears in 1959. A tiny statue of Lincoln is visible inside the building, so the cent shows his likeness on both sides. Mintages climbed above a billion at Denver every year of this era.
The main variety is the 1960 small date and large date. The Mint changed the date punch early in the year. Philadelphia small date coins are the scarcer issue. The 1960-D also has a small date over large date variety. A nationwide coin shortage in the early 1960s, blamed on vending machines and hoarding of silver coins, led the Mint to keep striking cents dated 1964 into 1965. Proofs were struck at Philadelphia through 1964. Red uncirculated coins are plentiful.
Elsewhere in US coinage in 1959
The Lincoln Memorial reverse replaced the wheat ears on the cent to mark the 150th anniversary of Lincoln's birth.
How to recognize it
The obverse keeps Victor David Brenner's portrait of Lincoln with the date and mint mark on the right. The reverse, by Frank Gasparro, shows the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., with a tiny statue of Lincoln visible between the central columns. E PLURIBUS UNUM is above the building and ONE CENT below. Look for the FG initials to the right of the steps.
Mintage chart
Specifications
| Series | Lincoln Memorial Cent (1959–2008) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1959 |
| Mint | Philadelphia Mint |
| Mint mark | None |
| Strike type | Circulation strike |
| Mintage | 609,715,000 |
| Face value | 1¢ |
| Composition | 95% copper, 5% tin and zinc (bronze) |
| Weight | 3.11 grams |
| Diameter | 19.05 mm |
| Edge | Plain |
| Designer | Victor David Brenner (obverse); Frank Gasparro (reverse) |
Other 1959 Lincoln Memorial Cent issues
| Coin | Mintage | Type | Silver |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1959 Lincoln Memorial Cent | 609,715,000 | Circulation strike | – |
| 1959 Lincoln Memorial Cent Proof | 1,149,291 | Proof | – |
| 1959-D Lincoln Memorial Cent | 1,279,760,000 | Circulation strike | – |
Mintage: Lincoln cent mintage figures (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0), compiled from US Mint records and the Guide Book of United States Coins. How we build these pages.