 Brenner 's obverse design closely follows a profile of Lincoln he had used in other work , such as the desk plaque he made for the Gorham Manufacturing Company in 1907 . Numismatic historian Roger Burdette suggests that Brenner based his work on an 1864 photograph of Lincoln taken at Mathew Brady 's studio by one of his assistants . However , Burdette adds that in an April 1 , 1909 letter , Brenner mentioned that in producing the design , he envisioned Lincoln reading to a child , when the sculptor felt Lincoln would be at his brightest . This suggests that Brenner may have drawn inspiration from the well @-@ known Brady photograph of Lincoln with his son , Tad . In a 2012 study published in Coin World , numismatic historian Fred Reed suggests that Brenner 's Lincoln work was based on a Brady portrait of Lincoln in right profile which was taken on the same day as the picture with his son ( there were several photos taken at this sitting ) . As the photograph in question only showed Lincoln 's head and shoulders , Reed indicates that Brenner obtained additional detail from an 1860 campaign photograph of a beardless Lincoln . 
