I attended the fourth and final launch ceremony for the 2009 Lincoln Cent commemorative reverse design. This reverse design displays a partially built U.S. Capitol dome and represents Lincoln’s years as President. It was debuted on November 12th, 2009 at the Ulysses S. Grant Memorial Statue on the west side of the Capitol building in Washington, D.C.
In attendance was Edmund Moy, Director of the U.S. Mint, Dr. Donald Kennon, Chief Historian at the U.S. Capitol Historical Society, and Dr. Eileen Mackevich, Executive Director of the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission, as well as members of the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee. The formal ceremony started at 10:00am and concluded at 10:30, kicking off the roll exchange.
There were roughly 200 people in line at the ceremony. The weather, a rainy and windy 40 degrees, likely played a factor in reducing the number from the thousands that turned out for the events in Kentucky, Indiana, and Illinois. Some of the people I spoke to in line had attended previous ceremonies, traveling from Kentucky to be here today. While I did talk with a dealer who was in line, there did not seem to be any dealers buying rolls from individuals. There was someone who was collecting rolls from a group of people, possibly brought in to maximize the number of rolls they could get.
The mood of the crowd was good, despite the cold and wet weather. I enjoyed both the ceremony and the conversations with people in line.
Near the end of the ceremony, Director Moy unveiled the reverse design that will be used on the Lincoln Cent starting in 2010. Personally speaking, I do not find the new design appealing, an opinion shared by others both in the crowd and elsewhere. The CCAC, however, found the design to be “a classic symbol from the Civil War era” and was preferred “due to its focus on a single design element.”
Related Story: 2010 Lincoln Penny Design Unveiled by US Mint
After the ceremony, Director Moy was interviewed by a television crew, during which the reporter asked the Director about the ongoing efforts to stop production of the one-cent coin. Director Moy responded by saying that the Mint was legally obligated by Congress to mint the coins. Later, he was seen handing out single Lincoln cents to the children in line for the roll exchange, and signing the programs that were given to us in line.
There were two other locations where cent roll exchanges were held on November 12th: the Mint’s kiosk in the Main Hall of Washington’s Union Station, and at the Mint’s offices on 9th Street in Northwest Washington. Based on reports from Mint employees and those in line, there were close to 1,000 in line earlier in the morning at the kiosk in Union Station. This location had the advantage of being both completely indoors and at a subway stop. Another advantage of the Union Station location was that the Post Office in the building had provided a cancellation stamp for those who wanted to authenticate that the rolls were in fact obtained on the day of the ceremony. It wasn’t a special stamp for the occasion, but having direct access to it versus tying up the Post Office staff was a win-win for everyone. At the Mint’s offices on 9th Street, two hours after the start of events at the Capitol, there was no one in line, but they were prepared for more individuals, having over 2,000 rolls in reserve.
People already in line at 9:40am
Director Moy, and Drs. Kennon and Mackevich
Director Moy and other dignitaries standing in front of the Capitol Dome
Director Moy unveiling the 2010 Lincoln cent reverse design
Director Moy speaking after the unveiling of the 2010 Lincoln cent reverse design
Thanks for the info of the ceremony. Wish I could have been there. I did get to go to the 1st release in Hodgenville, Kentucky.Can I copy article and pictures to go with my collection. I have been collecting the penny rolls, programs, and related pictures.
For you personal collection, I don’t see a reason why not.
Dear Les
I was fortunate enough to go to all ceremonies.Your report of 1000 people in line at union station is wrong.At any given time through out the exchange. I made personal counts of the amount of people in line there.At the very most at any given time until the rolls were all exchanged.Only a max number of 300 people were in line.Many of them ranged from ebay coin flippers, small dealers, homeless people trying to make quick money and other people who only wanted a few rolls for them selves.Many of them would get back in line wiping off the mark that was put on the hand to prevent people from getting double orders.At most ceremonies there were marks put on hands to prevent multiple buying.But this practice was never enforced by the people operating the exchange or the Mint enforcement officers on hand to assist in the ceremony. Because they would have never exchanged all rolls if that happened.At the US Postal Museum there was a line in which only a max number of 200 people at any given time were in line to have the special design 30 day cancel placed on the rolls.The biggest problem I saw with this type of 30 day stamp cancel was the fact that later Fed boxes could be purchased to have these 30 day stamp cancels placed on them as well.And those rolls would not be officially from the ceremony or exchanges from the first day.Therefore,I opted to go to two locations to have my rolls stamp cancelled with Authentic USPS stamp cancels showing the one day date(11/12/2009)which in my opinion is the only way anyone can be sure that these rolls were indeed from the first day exchanges.I hope this helps clarify any questions that may arise from collectors seeking these rolls.
I decided to not sell any of my rolls until the final rolls were given out.Many people sold rolls immediately after the ceremonies to capitalize on high values.Complete sets are very tough to find now unless you may have been buying them as they sold after each ceremony.Due to the low turn out at the ceremony.I am only left to believe that many rolls from the ceremony went back to the Mint for disbursement to the fed.Knowing that the fed is completely overwhelmed with coins from 2009.It is my belief that the 2009 LP4 design may be the lowest mintage of the series.And given the turn out I witnessed at the last ceremony. It is also my belief that these last ceremony rolls will become the lowest amount exchanged.
Joe, thank you for you recount of that day’s events. When I was at Union Station, there was about 100 in line, and the “close to 1,000” was based on what others had said, and not actual counting on my part. In regards to managing how often people passed through the line, there was nothing stopping individuals from going through as many times they wanted at the ceremony itself.