MAKING CHANGE AT THE LINCOLN PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY

 

At the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield, visitors can shop for sweatshirts, pillows, jewelry and chocolates using coins bearing the face of perhaps the most-famous Illinoisian, Abraham Lincoln.

But even here, pennies are growing scarce at the cash register.

The museum gift shop, like the rest of the country, is grappling with a penny shortage after the United States Mint halted production of the coin in November, citing the rising cost of producing them.

For many Illinoisans, there is a sad, end-of-an-era feeling watching the slow disappearance of the one-cent coin, which was one of the first coins made by the U.S. Mint after its establishment in 1792. President Lincoln's profile has been on the "heads" side since 1909, and that change made him the first president featured on U.S. coins in honor of his 100th birthday.

 

Mary Disseler has been working as a volunteer at the Lincoln Museum for over 20 years since its founding in 2005. As a die-hard fan of Lincoln, she sees the decision to stop penny production as a sad but sensible decision.

"It kind of breaks my heart. I think it's a nice tribute to Mr. Lincoln, but I understand that it's costing four cents to make a penny, so there's a part of us that has to be practical, too," she said.

To read the complete article, see:
Penny shortage causes headaches for retailers in the Land of Lincoln (https://capitolnewsillinois.com/news/penny-shortage-causes-headaches-for-retailers-in-the-land-of-lincoln/)

	NBS (coinbooks.org) Web