U.S. Mint unveils new Lincoln penny

LINCOLN CITY, Ind. -- Nearly 3,000 people gathered at a southern Indiana park for the release of a new penny that pays homage to Abraham Lincoln's years as a Hoosier.

The penny's release Thursday 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 the rain.

Some waited for hours to get rolls of the newly minted coins that depict -- on the back 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.

U.S. Mint director Edmond C. Moy said about 700 million of the Indiana pennies will eventually be in circulation.