Why does Lincoln face to the right on pennies?

The coin's designer, Victor David Brenner, based the image on a medal he had created earlier. The direction of portraits on American coins is not determined by any laws or custom, but solely by the preference of the artists who designed them.

In fact, Lincoln is not the only president whose image faces to the right. The modernistic portrait of Thomas Jefferson used on the 2005 Lewis and Clark nickels also is right-facing.

Images on the Presidential Dollars face forward, and those of Miss Liberty are about equally split.