Victor David Brenner (1871-1924) was a sculptor, engraver and medalist of Lithuanian origin. In his career, the sculptor created more than 125 medals, coats of arms and portraits. One of Brenner’s best-known works is the US one-cent coin. He was born in Šiauliai to a Jewish family and immigrated to the US in 1890. He studied arts there and made his name as a creator of medals and bas-relief portraits. But his most famous work was the US one-cent coin created to commemorate Lincoln’s 100th birthday. This is the oldest design used by the US Mint.
In 1908, Brenner received an important commission - to create a bas-relief to commemorate Lincoln. At the time, the future US President Theodore Roosevelt was visiting Brenner’s studio to pose for a medal dedicated to the Panama Canal. There, his attention was drawn to a bronze bas-relief of Lincoln hanging on the wall and he was immediately impressed. When talking with Roosevelt, Brenner suggested issuing a coin to commemorate Lincoln instead of a bas-relief. When Brenner sent out the model of Lincoln one-cent coin to the Director of the US Mint, the full name of its author was inscribed on it. Signatures of authors were very popular on coins abroad, especially on gold coins. However, the Director of the US Mint decided to replace the author’s full name with only the initials. Brenner incorporated his initials “VDB” on the bottom of the coin’s reverse, between wheat ear stalks. Widespread criticism of the initials' prominence resulted in their removal midway through 1909, the design's first year of issue. This coin was the first one in the US history to feature a President’s portrait. However, since 1918, his initials can be seen at the bottom of the portrait, on Lincoln’s shoulder.
In 1959, the reverse was changed to feature the Lincoln Memorial.
