World's Largest Penny A big Lincoln-headed, copper-colored monument remembering 1.7 million pennies that were raised to build a local hospital. Been there scene 1954 It's a 1953 penny, hand-molded and shaped concrete, my 5'3" head hit about nose level. ... made of concrete and weighing 17,452 pounds, symbolized the 1.7 million pennies collected at the time, or $17,000. The continuing campaign netted more than $100,000."