— -- The penny, often picked on for its piddly value, has found some self worth in 2009. The 2009 Lincoln cent — slow to spread into consumers' pockets — is being sold for big bucks ...

Now, in honor of the 200th anniversary of Abe’s birth, the U.S. Mint is planning to release four new Lincoln pennies this year. Of course these days, given the rising price of zinc and copper ...

And collectors -- or other folks lacking cents -- can purchase two rolls of the new Lincoln pennies from the U.S. Mint for only nine times their $1 face value (plus, of course, shipping and handling).

Abraham Lincoln’s professional life in Springfield will be one of four vignettes depicted on a set of pennies designed to celebrate the bicentennial of the U.S. president’s birth.