Here is a select group of very fine quality 1909 VDB pennies. The VDB, as you may know, stands for Victor David Brenner the designer / engraver of the famous Lincoln penny and 1909 was the first year of issuance ( and centennial of Lincoln's birth ).

VD Brenner was obsessed with Lincoln and as a close friend of President Teddy Roosevelt, was more or less a shoe-in to create the new penny. When the design was submitted to the mint, it carried VDB's signature, but the mint's director ( Leach ) reduced this to merely his initials. Shortly after these new cents were issued ( August 2, 1909 ) there was much public outcry of the fact that the initials were on the coins and so the following year the "VDB" was dropped.