Steel City Strikes Back: Franki and Wastweet Reimagine the Lincoln Cent for Pittsburgh
Two of America’s leading medallic artists have transformed the familiar Lincoln cent into a monument to Pittsburgh’s industrial past.
Jamie Franki and Heidi Wastweet created the official convention medal for the American Numismatic Association’s 2026 World’s Fair of Money®. Their ambitious design honors the 1943 steel cent while placing Pittsburgh steelworkers, the city skyline, and the Duquesne Incline inside one of the most recognizable formats in American coinage.
The ANA will hold the 2026 World’s Fair of Money at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center in Pittsburgh from August 25 through August 29. The event will bring together hundreds of dealers, major numismatic exhibits, educational programs, researchers, collectors, and family activities.
A Wartime Cent Inspires a Pittsburgh Medal
The 1943 steel cent gives the medal its historical foundation.
During World War II, copper played an essential role in the American war effort. Therefore, the United States Mint replaced the cent’s traditional bronze alloy with zinc-coated steel for 1943. The emergency composition lasted only one year. The Mint returned to a copper-colored alloy in 1944.
That brief experiment produced one of the most distinctive coins in American history. Its silvery surface immediately separated it from every earlier Lincoln cent. However, the coin also carried the same Victor David Brenner portrait that had appeared on the denomination since 1909.
For the Pittsburgh medal, Franki and Wastweet did more than reference the steel cent’s composition. Instead, they imagined the cent itself as a monumental piece of American industry.
Steelworkers Build a Giant Lincoln Cent
The medal’s obverse shows industrial workers assembling an enormous cent from riveted sheets of metal.
The scene turns a small circulating coin into a major construction project. Workers climb across the design, handle tools, and build the cent section by section. Meanwhile, elements of the Pittsburgh skyline rise behind them.
The composition connects several strands of American history. First, it recalls Pittsburgh’s central role in steel production. In addition, it honors the wartime cent that replaced copper with steel. Finally, it uses Brenner’s Lincoln cent as the architectural framework for the entire scene.
The result looks both familiar and entirely new. Lincoln remains at the center. Yet the artists surround him with the furnaces, labor, and engineering that shaped the Steel City.
Duquesne Incline Replaces the Lincoln Memorial
The reverse continues the transformation.
A Duquesne Incline railcar occupies the central position associated with the Lincoln Memorial on cents struck from 1959 through 2008. Frank Gasparro designed that Memorial reverse, while Brenner created the original Wheat cent reverse used from 1909 through 1958.
Franki and Wastweet replaced the Memorial with one of Pittsburgh’s most recognizable machines.
The Duquesne Incline opened to the public on May 20, 1877. Its track extends 794 feet and rises 400 feet along Mount Washington. The historic funicular still offers views of downtown Pittsburgh and the city’s three rivers.
Consequently, the reverse does more than insert a local landmark into a coin design. It connects Pittsburgh’s transportation history with the visual language of the Lincoln cent.
The railcar also fits the medal’s larger industrial theme. Steel cables, tracks, machinery, and counterbalanced cars made the incline possible. Those elements echo the riveted metal and working figures on the obverse.
A Medal That Challenged Both Artists
The project demanded close cooperation between Franki and Wastweet.
“From the restless imagination of Jamie Franki, we embarked on perhaps the most technically challenging design we have ever collaborated on,” Wastweet said. “Years of established trust allows us to take these chances and what starts out as a ‘what if?’ ends up in an ‘oh, wow!’ It’s exciting to get that kind of positive collector feedback.”
The complexity becomes clear when viewers study the design.
A medal artist must create more than an attractive illustration. Every figure, building, rivet, inscription, and background element must work in relief. Moreover, the final composition must remain readable after a press transfers the design into metal.
Franki emphasized that shared technical process.
“Collaborating with Heidi Wastweet on ANA medal projects isn’t just a baton pass of a finished design,” Franki said. “We work together on the final designs to ensure they are coinable. We engineer all the subject elements to articulate a design that communicates clearly and is ready for sculpture. Her suggestions on composition and subject accuracy were incredibly generous and helpful. I didn’t design this medal—we did.”
That statement captures an important part of modern medal production. The concept, relief, metal flow, and visual hierarchy must support one another. Otherwise, even a strong drawing can fail on the struck medal.
Franki and Wastweet Continue an ANA Partnership
The Pittsburgh medal marks the artists’ third major collaboration for the ANA.
They first worked together on the 2018 Philadelphia World’s Fair of Money medal. Later, they created the 2025 Oklahoma City medal, which drew inspiration from Native American imagery, Oklahoma’s landscape, and the Buffalo nickel tradition.
Their latest project brings that partnership into more technically demanding territory. Rather than placing a single portrait or landmark at the center, the Pittsburgh medal presents an active industrial narrative.
Workers build. Machinery climbs. The skyline rises.
As a result, the medal operates almost like a miniature mural.
Two Artists With Deep Numismatic Credentials
Both artists previously participated in the United States Mint’s Artistic Infusion Program.
Collectors know Franki best for his American Bison reverse on the 2005 Westward Journey Nickel. He also designed the forward-facing Thomas Jefferson obverse introduced on the nickel in 2006. The Mint selected that obverse from 147 submitted designs.
Franki has also created numerous medals for ANA conventions. Consequently, his work has helped establish the visual identity of the World’s Fair of Money medal program.
Wastweet has designed and sculpted thousands of coins and medals during her career. She previously served as president of the American Medallic Sculpture Association. In addition, she served on the Citizens’ Coinage Advisory Committee from 2010 through 2018 as the member specially qualified in sculpture or medallic arts.
The ANA selected Wastweet for its 2024 Numismatic Art Award for Excellence in Medallic Sculpture.
Together, Franki and Wastweet bring complementary skills to the Pittsburgh project. Franki’s concept creates the narrative. Wastweet’s sculptural experience helps translate that narrative into relief. However, as both artists stress, the line between those roles remains fluid.
How to Order the 2026 ANA Convention Medal
The ANA offers the official convention medal in bronze.
The medal measures 2.75 inches and costs $90. The ANA also offers convention bars separately. Quantities remain limited, and the organization reserves the right to restrict the number available per order.
Collectors can place orders through the ANA’s official World’s Fair of Money collectibles page. The current order form requires shipping and states that the ANA will mail collectibles after September 7, 2026. Therefore, collectors cannot collect pre-ordered pieces at the convention.
The World’s Fair of Money runs August 25-29 at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center, located at 1000 Fort Duquesne Boulevard in Pittsburgh.
For collectors of ANA medals, Lincoln cents, modern medallic art, or Pittsburgh history, the 2026 issue offers several collecting paths. More importantly, it turns a familiar American coin into an active scene of workers, machinery, and civic identity.
The cent may provide the framework. However, Pittsburgh supplies the steel.
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