His name is not well known, but if you live in the U.S. this engraver’s art is probably in your pocket or purse. Gasparro went to work for the U.S. Mint in 1942, and by 1965 was its Chief Engraver. Today, more than 100 billion pennies struck since 1959 have his Lincoln Memorial design on their backs. He used to point out the tails of the penny to cashiers and tell them he designed it, but “They looked at me like I was crazy, so I don’t do it anymore,” he said in 1989.
His bosses asked for several changes in the penny design. He agreed to remove 13 stars and the words “Lincoln Memorial”, but refused to take out the tiny statue of Lincoln or his initials (at the right foot of the building). “And he never walked by a penny on the street,” said an engraver that Gasparro mentored. “He’d always pick it up — that’s personal, baby.”
His other work includes the obverse and reverse of the Eisenhower and Susan B. Anthony dollars and the reverse of the Kennedy half dollar. Gasparro died September 29 in Pennsylvania after a fall. He was 92.