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Lincoln Cent Memorial RDV Summary

Lincoln Cent Memorial Reverse Design Varieties

In the course of its 48-year history the Lincoln cent memorial reverse has seen numerous design modifications resulting in seven (7) different design varieties.  The memorial design was first used in 1959 to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the birth of Abraham Lincoln and the 50th anniversary of the Lincoln cent.  This first (1) design was used for both circulation and proof coinage through 1968.  In 1969 the mint modified the design by slightly enlarging the designer's initials.  Again this design (2) was used for both circulation and proof coinage from the years 1969 through 1972.  In 1973 the mint again modified the design by greatly enlarging the designer's initials.  Only Lincoln cents dated 1973 carry this third (3) design.  In 1974 the mint reduced the size of the designer's initials.  This fourth (4) design was used from 1974 through 1985 for both circulation and proof coinage.  In 1986 the mint modified the designer's initials again, creating a fifth (5) design.  This design was short lived, with wide spread use lasting only through 1988.  A 1989 cent with RDV-005 has now been reported.  It is currently not known how rare this transitional design may be.  In 1989 the mint again modified the design, by once more changing the font on the designer's initials.  This sixth (6) design was used for both circulation and proof coinage through 1992.  1993 saw the seventh (7) design placed into production.  This design reduced the spacing between the AM of AMERICA and again changed the font of the designer's initials.  This design was used for both circulation and proof coinage for 1993.  However, in 1994 the mint reverted back to its previous design (6) for proof coinage.  Thus for the first time two separate memorial reverse designs were intentionally used for the circulation and proof coinage.  A proof style reverse (design 6) was discovered on a 2000 circulation strike coin.  Further research has turned up circulation strike occurrences of this design (6) for the years 1988, 1988-D, 1998 and 1999.  It is currently not known why this has occurred or if the years 1994 through 1997 are affected as well.  None have turned up on Denver issues, though recent discoveries have seen cents from 1992 (unconfirmed by CONECA) and 1992-D with a design 7 reverse.  Also now known are 1998-S and 1999-S proof cents with design 7 reverses.

Red = Ex. Rare, Blue = Rare, Pink = Scarce

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