When President Teddy Roosevelt asked Augustus Saint-Gaudens to design a new gold coin, he also asked him to design other coins, the lowly cent among them. It too bad Saint-Guadens didn't live long enough to give his cent designs a try. 

In 1905, Roosevelt commissioned Saint-Gaudens to prepare designs for a new Small Cent. Initially, Saint-Gaudens’ design for the obverse featured a Flying Eagle motif similar to James Barton Longacre's designs on the Small Cents of 1856-1858. However, this design was scrapped in favor of a head of Victory in profile wearing an Indian headdress. Saint-Gaudens and Roosevelt liked this design so much that they used it on the 1907 $10 instead of on the Cent. Saint-Gaudens died of cancer before making any more progress on the Cent design so it was not until 1909 that Victor David Brenner created the famous bust of Abraham Lincoln with which we are all so familiar today. 

Given the almost century long run of the Lincoln cent, it would have given us more variety in the US cent coin series if the Saint-Gaudens' design had been used. Of course, Victor David Brenner's design might never have been used if that had happened. I wonder if there is any chance of using Saint-Gaudens design after 2009? 

Posted by AutumnWindDave