Abraham Lincoln Was Almost A Classmate Of Mine

Now that I've seen a new Lincoln penny, I suddenly recall that earlier in the year I heard they were going to make some new ones. But I forgot.

It is, after all, the 200th birthday year of Abraham Lincoln. Only 200 years old. I mean that. You think of Lincoln as being ages ago, but he's still of very recent vintage. I'm over 50 and he wasn't president till he was 50 something (or whatever), so add that to 1809 and take away my 50-some years, and we could've almost been classmates.

It would've been cool. In fact that'd be a good TV show. Lincoln is reincarnated in a neighborhood. He reveals himself to one particular kid. They're classmates. The kid knows he's Abraham Lincoln, with a different name. He happens to know a lot about the 1800s and anything that has to do with Lincoln. And so forth. You have him getting extremely mad about Lincoln impersonators, Lincoln birthday sales, etc.

Let's say Lincoln really was my age. And he and I are hanging out. And I'm offering him a "penny for your thoughts." Like that.

This new penny has the normal design on the heads side. It's the flip side that's different. This one has Lincoln sitting on a Lincoln log. He's reading a book. He's got an ax at his side.