New Penny Honors Lincoln's Indiana Years

LINCOLN CITY, Ind. -- Nearly 3,000 people gathered at a southern Indiana park Thursday for the U.S. Mint's release of a new penny that pays homage to Abraham Lincoln's years as a Hoosier.The penny's release at Lincoln State Park created traffic jams and a quarter-mile-long line filled with coin collectors and Lincoln enthusiasts carrying umbrellas to ward off rain showers, 6News' Ben Morriston reported."I took off running and ran up here so I could be first and I got the pennies. Yep, they're awesome," one woman said.Some waited for hours to get rolls of the newly minted coins that depict on their reverse "tails" side a teenage Lincoln reading a book while taking a break from rail splitting.Lincoln lived from age 7 to 21 in Spencer County in an area about 30 miles northeast of Evansville that was then little more than a densely wooded frontier town.Some collectors said they were stocking up on the pennies to sell later."There's no telling (how much they're worth). Mine are going straight to eBay," one man said.Experts said each coin could fetch up to $40.The Indiana Lincoln penny is the second in a four-part penny series depicting different stages in Lincoln's life being released as part of events celebrating the 200th anniversary of his birth.