Otherreal estateHousing Market Trends
The Penny, the most-reproduced artwork, is out of production.
The final penny was minted Wednesday at the U. S.Mint in Philadelphia, a quiet end to America's longest-running coin design and, perhaps more significantly, the most-reproduced artwork in human history. That’s right, your pocket change is now a collector's item.While Andy Warhol’s *Marilyn Monroe* or Leonardo da Vinci’s *Mona Lisa* hang in museums, it is sculptor Victor David Brenner’s profile of Abraham Lincoln on the humble penny that has been replicated an estimated 300 billion times, a staggering number that dwarfs any gallery masterpiece. Even with production halted, the coin remains legal tender, ensuring the 'give a penny, take a penny' ritual at gas stations and convenience stores will persist for years, a lingering ghost of a bygone era.The penny's journey to this pop-art status began in 1793 with the Mint's first one-cent coin, which featured a long-haired woman representing Liberty, a design mandated by the Coinage Act of 1792. This initial version even had a reverse side showing a chain of 15 links for the states in the Union, a symbol quickly swapped for a wreath after public outcry that it evoked the imagery of slavery.For over a century, American coins avoided presidential portraits, with lawmakers wary of mimicking the British tradition of placing the monarch on currency; it was a deliberate act of republican identity. The shift came in 1909, on the centennial of Lincoln's birth, when President Teddy Roosevelt, seeking to honor the fallen leader, personally selected the rendering by Brenner, a Jewish Lithuanian immigrant celebrated as one of the nation's finest relief artists.Brenner’s design, based on a photograph by Mathew Brady, was revolutionary—the first time a president's likeness ever appeared on a U. S.coin, transforming the penny from mere currency into a portable monument. Since then, the 'tails' side has been a rotating canvas of American symbolism, from Frank Gasparro’s Lincoln Memorial (1959-2008) to the 2009 bicentennial series depicting a log cabin and other scenes from Lincoln's life, culminating in the current 'Union Shield' representing his preservation of the nation.But this artistic and historical legacy ultimately succumbed to cold, hard economics. The cost of producing a single penny, a metallic paradox, had ballooned from 1.42 cents in 2015 to 3. 69 cents in 2025, making each one a loss for the government and prompting President Donald Trump to direct the Treasury Department to end its production in February.Yet, the penny's story is not entirely over. With hundreds of billions still jangling in pockets and piggy banks, Brenner's Lincoln will remain a common sight. And in a fittingly futuristic coda, the portrait has even achieved immortality beyond Earth—in 2012, NASA's Curiosity rover carried a penny to Mars, a calibration target for its cameras, ensuring that long after the last penny is spent on Earth, Lincoln’s profile will still be in circulation, silently observing the red sands of another world.
#penny
#coin
#US Mint
#Abraham Lincoln
#art
#currency
#featured
