Nation to honor Lincoln with cent

When the nation celebrates the bicentennial of Abraham Lincoln in 2009, a new cent may be one of the key parts of the observance.
Nothing could be simpler than creating a new cent, right?
Not so fast. The present cent has been in production since 1959, the 150th anniversary, and Victor D. Brenner's portrait has been on the cent since 1909, the year the Indian Head cent was replaced. Brenner's stern profile portrait has been so admired that any change in that design will require more than congressional approval. Popular acceptance will be needed.
The present reverse, by the late Frank Gasparro, has been criticized, yet scholars have pointed out Gasparro's dedication to detail in the Lincoln Monument.
A commission of Lincoln scholars and political figures -- including Sen. Jim Bunning of Kentucky and Gabor S. Boritt, head of the Civil War Institute at Gettysburg College -- will decide how the cent should look, as well as commemorative coinage that will certainly be part of the observance.
New designs, and the anniversary itself, will have mooted all the talk of eliminating the cent from U.S. coinage.
Wright stuff
The three coins marking the centennial of flight in America went on sale at the start of the month.
The $10 gold coin bears the portraits of Orville and Wilbur Wright; the silver dollar carries profiles of the two, and the cupro-nickel half dollar carries the image of the Wright monument at Kitty Hawk, N.C.
All three coins carry images of the first plane in flight.
The coins remain in the discount period until Sept. 26. The gold proof coin sells for $350, the silver proof for $33, the half-dollar proof for $12.50.
Uncirculated coins sell for $340, $31 and $9.75. Queries go to the Mint at www.us.mint.gov, or by mail to the U.S. Mint, Box 382618, Pittsburgh, PA 15250.
Canada
The water falls as viewers hold the new Canadian $20 hologram silver proof celebrating Niagara Falls.
The coin, struck in time for the honeymoon season, is the first of three that the Royal Canadian Mint will issue this year to show Canada's natural wonders. The second, to be out in September, will show the Rockies. The third, due in November, will depict the northern lights.
The proof coins are struck in 99.9 fine silver with serrated edges. Gary Corcoran has designed the Falls coin reverse, and Dora de Pedery-Hunt's portrait of Queen Elizabeth is on the obverse. Her portrait will also be on the second issue, but a new image of the queen, by Susanna Blunt, will be on the November coin.
Proofs will sell for $59.95, uncirculated versions for $39.95. Queries go to the mint at 1-800-268-6468 or to www.mint.ca.
XDaniel Webster is a columnist for the Philadelphia Inquirer.