Penny (British pre-decimal coin)
Encyclopedia
The penny
Penny
A penny is a coin or a type of currency used in several English-speaking countries. It is often the smallest denomination within a currency system.-Etymology:...

 of the Kingdom of Great Britain
Kingdom of Great Britain
The former Kingdom of Great Britain, sometimes described as the 'United Kingdom of Great Britain', That the Two Kingdoms of Scotland and England, shall upon the 1st May next ensuing the date hereof, and forever after, be United into One Kingdom by the Name of GREAT BRITAIN. was a sovereign...

and later of the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

, was in circulation from the early 18th century until February 1971, Decimal Day
Decimal Day
Decimal Day was the day the United Kingdom and Ireland decimalised their currencies.-Old system:Under the old currency of pounds, shillings and pence, the pound was made up of 240 pence , with 12 pence in a shilling and 20 shillings in a...

.

Twelve pence made one shilling; the penny was therefore of a pound
Pound sterling
The pound sterling , commonly called the pound, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence...

. To express an amount, penny was abbreviated to "d", e.g. 1d, from the Roman denarius
Denarius
In the Roman currency system, the denarius was a small silver coin first minted in 211 BC. It was the most common coin produced for circulation but was slowly debased until its replacement by the antoninianus...

.

History

The coin's predecessor, the English silver penny, weighed 24 grains of sterling silver
Sterling silver
Sterling silver is an alloy of silver containing 92.5% by mass of silver and 7.5% by mass of other metals, usually copper. The sterling silver standard has a minimum millesimal fineness of 925....

 in 1279. Over the centuries that weight had declined to 12 grains and lower.

British silver pennies were minted until about 1750, then occasionally until about 1820; thereafter, they were only minted for Maundy money
Maundy money
Royal Maundy is a religious service in the Church of England held on Maundy Thursday, the day before Good Friday. At the service, the British Monarch or a royal official ceremonially distributes small silver coins known as "Maundy money" as symbolic alms to elderly recipients...

.

From 1797, pennies for general circulation were minted in copper
Copper
Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu and atomic number 29. It is a ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. Pure copper is soft and malleable; an exposed surface has a reddish-orange tarnish...

 and were extremely heavy.

Miscellaneous

Pre-decimal penny coins continue to be used to adjust the timing of the pendulum of the clock in the Clock Tower
Clock Tower, Palace of Westminster
Big Ben is the nickname for the great bell of the clock at the north end of the Palace of Westminster in London, and is generally extended to refer to the clock or the clock tower as well. It is the largest four-faced chiming clock and the third-tallest free-standing clock tower in the world...

 of the Palace of Westminster
Palace of Westminster
The Palace of Westminster, also known as the Houses of Parliament or Westminster Palace, is the meeting place of the two houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom—the House of Lords and the House of Commons...

, commonly known as "Big Ben".

In the United States, other than the known uses in numismatics, British Pennies are also used in coin magic, because they are at contrast with the just slightly smaller US half dollar (the half dollar is 30.61 mm in diameter compared to the 31 mm in British Pennies), with their copper sheen compared to the silver in half dollars. Indeed, many routines involve a copper-silver transposition, in which a British Penny and a half dollar change places.

Pennies by period

  • The Anglo-Saxons (c. 600–1066)
    History of the English penny (c. 600-1066)
    The history of the English penny can be traced back to the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of the 7th century: to the small, thick silver coins known to contemporaries as pæningas or denarii, though now often referred to as sceattas by numismatists. Broader, thinner pennies inscribed with the name of the king...

  • The Early Normans and the Anarchy (1066–1154)
    History of the English penny (1066-1154)
    This is the history of the English penny from the years 1066 to 1154.- The Early Norman kings :Following the Norman Conquest, William the Conqueror continued the Anglo-Saxon coinage system. As a penny was a fairly large unit of currency at the time, when small change was needed a penny would be cut...

  • The Plantagenets (1154–1485)
    History of the English penny (1154-1485)
    This is the history of the English penny from the years 1154 to 1485.- The Plantagenets :King Henry II ascended the throne in 1154 as the first of the Plantagenet dynasty...

  • The Tudors (1485–1603)
    History of the English penny (1485-1603)
    The History of the English penny from 1485 to 1603 covers the period of the Tudor dynasty.-Henry VII:Henry Tudor, who reigned as King Henry VII between 1485 and 1509, had a rather tenuous claim on the throne, being the Lancastrian claimant via an illegitimate descendant of Edward III when all the...

  • The Stuarts and the Commonwealth (1603–1714)
  • The Hanoverians (1714–1901)
    History of the British penny (1714-1901)
    The History of the Penny of Great Britain and the United Kingdom from 1714 to 1901 covers the period of the House of Hanover.-Silver pennies:...

  • The Twentieth Century Penny (1901–1970)
    History of the British penny (1901-1970)
    The penny of King Edward VII is of the same technical standards as the late Victorian issues. The head on the obverse is by George William de Saulles , facing right, with the inscription EDWARDVS VII DEI GRA BRITT OMN REX FID DEF IND IMP...

  • Decimal Day, 1971
    Decimal Day
    Decimal Day was the day the United Kingdom and Ireland decimalised their currencies.-Old system:Under the old currency of pounds, shillings and pence, the pound was made up of 240 pence , with 12 pence in a shilling and 20 shillings in a...

  • Post-decimalisation (1971–present)
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