The U.S. Mint rolled out a new Lincoln-themed penny over a month ago. But I still have not seen any. At first I was asking clerks in stores "Got any of the new pennies?" I quickly discovered that nobody had any idea that the Mint was rolling out four new designs for the penny this year and gave up on that tactic.

My enthusiasm isn't really for the designs; the Mint seemed more interested in appeasing the various states that lay claim to Lincoln than in designing coins.

This first design came out on February 12, celebrating Lincoln's 200th birthday. It's of a log cabin in Kentucky. The coins don't get any better from here. Next up is one of young Lincoln, where he looks like Johnny Cash as a lumberjack in Indiana. Illinois, my home state and Land of Lincoln, gets in there next with lawyer Lincoln near the statehouse, which looks a little too much like the current tails to my liking. Finally there's the the Capitol dome under construction, which looks even more like the current backside.

Apparently I'm not alone in looking for and not finding the coins. The new pennies are rolling out very slowly, the Chattanooga Free Times Press reports via MSNBC. That's caused people to buy and sell them on eBay, where they seem to be selling for between $2 for a single coin to $450 for $25 worth of uncirculated coins. Despite the Mint, I think a lot us want to see the new penny.