The 2010 Lincoln cents are starting to leak out in a few places, with the official release ceremony scheduled for Feb. 11th. I have located at least one bank that will be getting a shipment in soon, claiming to be of new 2010 cents, and I'm excited to see them first hand without having to pay the $15/roll ebay is currently selling them at. Perhaps the coolest thing about the new cents ISN'T the new union shield reverse, however, its the redesign of the OBVERSE as well. The obverse has been redesigned many, many times using minute changes over the course of the past 40 or so years and the 2008 obverse looked MUCH different from the 1959 one, despite their supposed identical designs. "Although the portrait is still of Lincoln (or, rather, Lincoln’s coat), the mint went back to the 1909 plasters and composite galvano made by engraver Charles Barber to produce a new portrait. Small but significant modifications had to be made to accommodate the thin zinc planchets now in use, and balance the mass of the shield on the new reverse." Source: http://boards.collectors-society.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=3753937 I haven't found many good shots of the new obverse, but here's a shot taken by someone from ebay: http://www.auctiva.com/hostedimages...9540,343029572&formats=0,0,0,0,0,0,0&format=0 It looks to me to be similar to some of the obverse designs from the 1970's, although a little flatter. The cartoonish beard lines and facial features have been removed in favor of the older-looking design. Unfortunately, it appears that the obverse on the new cents may frequently be subject to scuffing on the higher points of Lincoln's portrait, as evident in the photo and this post: http://www.cointalk.com/t90263/ What do you think of this design change? Have you found any new 2010 cents without scuffing in your rolls if you searched them, and if so, how frequent were they?
I have yet to see one of the cents, but my first thought when I read that was "thank God"! That picture does not enthrall me much. I was hoping Abe would get his bread back like he used to have in the late teens, but then maybe that is just the picture or a well used die - PLEASE!
Yes, the first major obverse design change occurred on the 1969 cent when his bust was made slightly smaller and detail was changed a bit. I think there was a couple changes after in the 70's, and since then the master dies were changed every year with very small changes until it snowballed into the ugly portrait we saw in the 2000's. I got some better pictures, one from this site one from the mint. Do the comparison for yourself:
Maybe it's just the photography, but the top (2009) sample looks disturbingly like Timothy Geithner with a small beard. Aargh!
