2009 Lincoln Professional Life Penny: Value + Facts About The 3rd Lincoln Bicentennial Penny Honoring His Professional Career

The 3rd redesigned Lincoln penny in the 2009 Lincoln Bicentennial series was released on August 13, 2009.

The Lincoln Bicentennial cent series (a circulating set of 4 commemorative coins) follows Lincoln from his early years in a Kentucky log cabin in the early 1800s up through his presidency during the Civil War.

This Lincoln Bicentennial cent (the 3rd in a series of 4) features Abraham Lincoln’s professional life in Illinois. This design features Lincoln standing up in his suit, holding a book.

Here’s more about the 2009 Lincoln penny honoring Abraham Lincoln’s professional life…

2009 Lincoln Professional Life Penny

The U.S. Mint made 656,564,843 of the 2009 Professional Life Lincoln cents for circulation — split between two production facilities:

• Philadelphia (these coins have NO mintmark)
• Denver (these coins have a “D” mintmark)

While proof examples can be purchased in proof sets directly from the U.S. Mint, uncirculated 2009 Lincoln Professional Life cents were released in circulation and in rolls. These coins are currently available through coin dealers.

Facts About The Professional Life Lincoln Cent

Wondering who designed the Professional Life Lincoln cent?

Victor David Brenner, a famous sculptor whose career in the early 1900s drew much applause, designed the profile of the 16th president that we have known on the one-cent coin since 1909. Joel Iskowitz created the design on the reverse (“tail’s side”). Don Everhart sculpted the design on the reverse.

The Lincoln Professional Life cent was struck in both proof and uncirculated varieties.

The proof version was made from a composition of 95% copper, 5% tin and zinc — which was the original Lincoln cent metallic composition when the design was first struck in 1909.

The uncirculated version was made using the Lincoln cent’s modern composition: 97.5% zinc and 2.5% copper.

2009 Lincoln Professional Life Penny Value (JOSH I COPIED THIS SECTION FROM THE OTHER PENNY – PLEASE REVISE!!!)

The 2009 Professional Life penny is worth face value, if worn.

Typical uncirculated examples are worth 10 to 30 cents apiece.

Satin examples from 2009 mint sets have a value of $3 to $5 each.

Proofs are worth around $3 each.

2009 Lincoln Professional Life Penny Error

This is the single most popular thing error hunters look for on the 2009 Professional Life penny!

Because the U.S. Mint was rushing these dies through the coin presses, they had some major alignment issues. That’s what led to a well-known doubled die error.

To identify this error using a standard 10x magnifier, you’ll want to focus on Abe’s left hand holding the book. On a regular 2009 Lincoln Professional Life penny, his hand looks normal. But on the rare variety, you will see a distinct, raised extra thumb (or an extra partial finger) sticking out right next to his real fingers.

Some people call it the “6-Fingered Abe” or the “Extra Finger” penny. It’s exciting to find one of these in bank rolls!

View The Other 3 Coins In This Series

• 2009 Lincoln’s Log Cabin Penny (1st in the series)
• 2009 Lincoln’s Formative Years Penny (2nd in the series) 
• 2009 Lincoln’s Presidency Penny (4th in the series)