2009 Congressional Years, Copper

The 2009 Congressional Years copper cent honors the final chapter of Lincoln's pre-presidential career. The reverse, designed by Joel Iskowitz and sculpted by Don Everhart, features the unfinished dome of the United States Capitol as it appeared during the years Lincoln served in Washington. Lincoln won a single term in the U.S. House of Representatives in 1846, representing Illinois's 7th Congressional District. He chose not to seek reelection, returning to his law practice in Springfield. He did not hold national office again until his presidential inauguration in 1861.

The Capitol dome shown on the coin is the original low dome designed by Charles Bulfinch, not the taller cast-iron dome familiar today. Construction of the new dome began in 1856 and was still unfinished when Lincoln took office. Iskowitz chose the earlier dome to reflect the building as Lincoln would have known it during his congressional years. The satin finish copper version weighs 3.1 grams and was produced in limited quantities for collector sets, recalling the original bronze composition used on Lincoln cents from 1909 to 1982. Approximately 2.99 million copper specimens were produced across all four bicentennial designs, making them far scarcer than their zinc counterparts.