That’s what George Washington would say. In a Feb. 8 NY Times article on the history of the Lincoln penny, author Thomas Vinciguerra wrote of how “Before its [the Lincoln penny] debut in 1909, no actual person had been depicted on a regular-denomination circulating United States coin.”
“This was no accident” because “Emperors, kings and other authority figures had long projected their power by stamping their faces on loose change.” In 1791 the U.S. Congress wanted to put George Washington’s head on a coin, but “Washington argued against the idea, deeming it too monarchical.” “It smacked of royalty” and “It was not a good omen for a new republic,” said one expert who is quoted.
So instead of George Washington, in 1792 “an impression emblematic of liberty” was put on the coinage. Promoting liberty, as opposed to despotism and imperialism, on the coinage was ended by the lunatic Teddy Roosevelt who put Dishonest Abe’s mug on the penny.
