I was just having some fun at work creating images of a penny to demonstrate a certain technology to some new students. Here is an example image:
Can you guess how this image was created? Hint - think out of the box; except for the size, it has not been edited in any way.
Interestingly, not many of the students knew how the penny looks up-close. They have probably *seen* it for years, but never *observed* it closely. Some of them knew what “E Pluribus Unum” means, but none of them knew what “FG” stands for. 
The letters “FG” are not clearly visible in the above image, but you can check this detailed photograph of the penny for that.
For those who are not aware about the significance of those letters - they are the initials of the designer Frank Gasparro.
By the way, the other side (Lincoln side) of the penny was designed by Victor Brenner. But, check out this detailed photograph of the Lincoln side of the penny - here only the letter “D” appears below the year, instead of the initials. Now, what is that for? Well, that’s a mint mark of the US Mint at Denver, Colorado.
So, the other side doesn’t have Victor Brenner’s initials? If you ask that question, then you haven’t yet *observed* the Lincoln side of the coin closely enough.
{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
Wow, I never knew that. Thanks for sharing it.
Blah, the initials of the carver is on the side he carved. Down on the lower rim on Lincoln’s bust. And there’s another initial in the middle, so it’s like VDB, or something.
Did you also know the letters on the pre-1982 pennies are smaller than the post-1982 ones, when they switched from copper to copper-plated zinc?
Brenner also designed the original “wheat ears” reverse of cents minted from 1909 through 1958. (For some reason, someone decided to change the reverse to the Lincoln Memorial for the 150th anniversary of his birth in 1959.) But since Brenner was not a humble man, he put his initials (VDB) at the bottom of the reverse, resulting in the 1909-VDB and 1909-SVDB varieties.
This did not resonate favorably with the public which otherwise liked the new Lincoln cent, so the initials were removed later that year. (There are also 1909 and 1909-S Lincoln cents without the VDB; these were produced later in the year. Note that the VDB cents are scarcer than their counterparts without the initials.) The initials were restored in 1918, made smaller and placed inconspicuously at the base of Lincoln’s bust.
I’m surprised no one has asked yet. I don’t know how you created the image, but I see some minor distortion in the details, leading me to believe that a fluid (either liquid or gas) was involved. So spill — what was your method?
Steve: You are right about the fluid part.
Minimum Wage and Dimes: Thanks for sharing the additional information. Ok, OK, I didn’t know some of it.
I FOUND THE INFO ABOUT THE PENNY VERY INTERESTING.
I VOLUNTEER AT MY DAUGHTER’S SCHOOL, THE KID’S FOUND THIS INTERESTING ALSO. DO YOU HAVE ANY OTHER THINGS LIKE THIS FOR THE OTHER U.S. COINS OR BILLS? IF SO PLEASE PASS THEM ALONG!
If anyone has any questions about U.S. coins, I’d be happy to (try to) answer them. I collected coins as a kid - back when silver was still used in coins and many semi-valuable coins could be found in circulation.
I got started when I was 7; I had a little pocket change for some reason and noticed a funny-looking nickel. It was dated 1945, was darker than the average nickel, and had a big “P” on the reverse above the dome of Monticello. I started asking everyone, Why is there a big “P” on the back? (I had not yet grasped the concepts of “tails” and “reverse”.)
Copper was a critical metal needed for war production, so the composition of the nickel was changed in the middle of 1942. (Kinda like, as most people know, copper was replaced by steel in 1943 cents. Copper for 1944 and 1945 cents came from spent shell casings which were melted down.) An odd alloy containing 35% silver was introduced and used through 1945. As these coins circulate and oxidize, they turn a distinctive grayish color. The mintmark was enlarged and moved to the top of the reverse (on other 1938-1964 nickels, the (tiny) mintmark is found to the right of the building next to the rim. The purpose was to facilitate removal of the silver nickels (for eventual remelting) through the banking system once the war crisis was over. After the war, in 1946, the “normal” composition (75% copper, 25% nickel) was restored, but the silver nickels were never recaptured and continued to circulate for decades (I still get them at work occasionally!). (Kinda like how Social Security was intended as a temporary program that never got turned off.)
Normally through 1964, coins from the Philadelphia Mint (the original and primary mint) do not have any mintmark - coins without a mintmark are thus marked as Philadephia coins. (The first branch mints were opened in 1838, creating the first U.S. coins with mintmarks.) l
They’re STILL out there. Yesterday at work I got a 1943-P WWII silver nickel.
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