The 1959-2008 Lincoln Memorial Cents were issued by the United States Mint for fifty years. They first appeared in 1959 which marked the 150th anniversary of the birth of the individual honored by the cent coin, Abraham Lincoln.

Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States and was born in 1809. His image first appeared on the cent (sometimes referred to as the penny) in 1909 as part of the centennial celebration of his birth. The release of that 1909 coin marked the first time a former U.S. President was honored on a circulating coin of the United States.

Artist Victor David Brenner created the designs that were used on the coin which included an obverse portrait of Lincoln and a reverse design of two wheat heads which lead to the coin being known as the Lincoln Wheat Cents. Those designs were used on the coin for fifty years.

However, in 1959, the US Mint replaced the reverse wheat design with an image of the Lincoln Memorial, found in Washington D.C. This new reverse was created by Frank Gasparro and would remain on the cent coins for fifty years along with the obverse portrait of Lincoln still in use since 1909.

Literally millions of these memorial cents were produced by the US Mint during their fifty year run with the only major changes coming to the composition of the strikes. From 1959-1962 they were struck from 95% copper and a 5% mixture of tin and zinc. From 1962-1982, the composition was changed to 95% copper and 5% zinc. Finally, in 1982 owing to the increased costs of copper, the composition was changed to 97.5% zinc and 2.5% copper.

All of the Lincoln Memorial Cents have the right-facing Victor David Brenner portrait of Lincoln on their obverse surrounded by the inscriptions of "IN GOD WE TRUST," "LIBERTY", the year of minting and mintmark (if any). The reverse shows Gasparro’s image of the Lincoln Memorial and the inscriptions of "UNITED STATES OF AMERICA," "E PLURIBUS UNUM" and "ONE CENT."