Lincoln Penny unveiling

Thursday events

*At 12:30 p.m., musician Chris Vallillo will perform selections from his new CD “Lincoln in Song.”

*At 2 p.m., Lincoln portrayer Fritz Klein will greet visitors and make speeches.

*The penny’s designer, Joel Iskowitz, will be available at 3 p.m. for autographs at the Old State Capitol, where he’ll deliver a presentation and answer questions. (He will not be able to sign coins or coin rolls).

Penny facts

*The four commemorative Lincoln bicentennial pennies will be made in 2009 only. On the back of each is portrayed a different aspect of Lincoln’s life — his Kentucky birth, Indiana boyhood, career as a Springfield attorney, and as president.

*Roughly 614 million and 695 million of the first and second pennies have been put in circulation.

*The front of the coins will use the image of Lincoln created by Victor David Brenner that has appeared on the penny since 1909.

*The 2009 Lincoln pennies are mostly zinc, but are also 2.5 percent copper — the same as pennies currently in circulation. The U.S. Treasury also will mint one-cent coins with the metallic content of 1909 pennies, which are composed of 95 percent copper and 5 percent tin and zinc.

*The 2010 Lincoln penny will feature a reverse design symbolizing Lincoln’s preservation of the union.

*The federal government has issued a one-cent piece since 1793.

*For more information about the U.S. Mint coins and how to purchase them, visit www.usmint.gov/mint_programs.