Central Illinois and out-of-state coin collectors scrambled to be among the first to get their hands on the latest Lincoln commemorative penny after it was unveiled at the Old Capitol on Thursday morning.

In the line snaking across the Old Capitol lawn were plenty of people like Donna Park and Julia Carey of Louisville, Ky., who have traveled hundreds of miles this year to collect each subsequent Lincoln penny, four of which are being offered.

"We went to the first penny launch in Hodgenville, Ky., where they�ve built a replica of Lincoln�s birth cabin," Park said. "We liked it so much, we went to Indiana for the launch of the second penny, which shows Lincoln�s boyhood home."

Park, who arrived in Springfield Wednesday, said she and Carey planned to spend some time visiting the local Lincoln sites. They also plan to visit Washington, D.C., for the November launch of the fourth penny, which commemorates Lincoln�s presidency.

As the crowd thinned outside the Old Capitol, the line at the post office at Fourth and Monroe streets lengthened. Collectors affixed their rolls of pennies with stamps to be "canceled" by the postmaster, proving they were in Springfield for the launch.

"It validates that we got them today," explained Eric Sutton of Louisville, Ky. "It costs 44 cents to cancel the stamp out. I�m getting a lot of things canceled."

With his father and fianc�, Sutton has attended all three Lincoln commemorative coin launches. He keeps his pennies in a banking box already bearing stamps from the Feb. 12 and May 14 events. On Thursday, he was also getting mint $5 bills bearing Lincoln�s portrait canceled.

To read the complete article, see: Hundreds line up for new Lincoln penny (www.galesburg.com/news/x1373185640/
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