I have been trying to assemble a collection of the large British pennies (circa 1900 to 1967). I was trying to figure out what I still needed so I looked them up in a price guide and found out there are several large gaps in the years they were minted. The WWII years are obvious and I figure 1923-25 was probably because it was a bad economic time worldwide, but what happened from 1954-1960? It's strange that they just stopped making pennies for most of a decade.
in the george V run there are two types of penny, to look for, being namely the heaton and kings norton varieties which denotes the source mint. you will never get the 1933 as there were only 8 minted and all bar one are accounted for, the one not accounted for was stolen from under the foundation stone of a church which was built in 1933. there is also a very scarce george VI penny from 1952 which was never officially released for circulation because the king died. the reason they were never minted between 1954 and 1960 was because of the sheer volume of pennies which were in circulation. we used to have fun as children seeing how many different pennies we could find and my friend found a rather worn cartwheel penny which he exchanged with me for a catapult. hope that gives you a bit of help.............
Thanks for the info. I love big coins so I think the British and Canadian large cents are cool, plus I love the Lady Brittania or whatever the obverse motif is. Looks very imperial.
brittania is the allegorical symbolic figure for great britain just as the french have marrianne and the germans have germania.
There is a unique 1954 penny, and there are reputed to be two proof 1952 pennies (one for sure). As one poster said, there were enough pennies in circulation for the dates you mentioned. In summary, pennies were minted thus: VICTORIA (Old Head) 1895 - 1901 EDWARD VII 1902 - 1910 GEORGE V 1911 - 1922 (also 1912H, 1918H, 1919H, 1918KN, 1919KN) 1926 - 1932 (also 1926 modified effigy) 1933 just 7 minted, all bar one accounted for 1934 - 1936 (the 1934 was issued mint darkened) EDWARD VIII 1937 ... specimen proofs only - none generally available GEORGE VI 1937 - 1940 1944 - 1951 (the 1944-46 are produced mint-toned and aren't generally lustrous) 1952 1 or 2 proofs known ELIZABETH II 1953 only produced in Unc in mint sets (but some were broken up and spent), and proof in proof sets 1954 unique circulation penny 1961 - 1967
I agree and I do plan to get some older ones, but right now I'm looking for the most bang for the buck, and in my target area very few are worth more than a dollar. It's nice to be able to complete a set without spending my whole paycheck.
lol - soz - I just noticed where your location was! I was just back there a few weeks ago (Liverpool, not Rainhill) ... between us, I think the OP has enough info to go on!
By the 1950's, pennies were grotesquely large and cumbersome in comparison with their worth. With a value slightly more than one US cent, they were widely and passionately despised. As a result, they circulated only grudgingly, accumulated in piles in banks and people's homes, and so in many years there was no need to mint any. Of course, this is a boon for those today who wish to collect them, as beautifully toned and scarcely circulated examples of most dates are quite abundant.
That's interesting. I always thought it was strange with these British pennies and the U.S. Large cents that the coins on the lower end of the value spectrum were so big. Usually in the U.S. today coins are sized proportionately to their value. The new design of the British penny doesn't do anything for me. Most European coins got really drab and utilitarian after World War II in my opinion. The British held out a little longer, but it's too bad from a collector's perspective how they all changed.
England is noted for its respect of tradition, even when doing so results in apparent absurdities. Modern English coinage is made with more regard to the ratio of size and value, but it still has inconsistencies. Why is an American half dollar bigger than a dollar? Why is an American cent bigger than a dime? History is not a rational parent.
These size differences assume something that modern coinage has forgotten. Coins are not supposed to be proportional by size but by value of their metal content. Before 1964, US coins followed this rule but today our coins are valued according to the markings on them not the metal they contain. Large US cents (and UK pennies) were large to present something approaching a cent's worth of copper. Five cent coins don't weigh five times as much because they contain an alloy with a more valuable metal - nickel. Pre 1964 dimes were smaller than cents because they had real silver content and were worth something approaching their face in terms of melt value. Back then we did not see the hourly fluctuation of metal values that we see today because silver was tied to the currency and you could exchange a paper dollar ('Silver Certificate') for silver bearing coin. Today dimes are 'pretend' silver and cents are 'pretend' copper. They are the size they are because they were that size in 1964 when there was a reason for them being that way. Only the nickel remains as it was (and now costs more than a nickel to make so don't count on seeing them much longer. Have you noticed that you can ocassionally get a 1938 nickel in change even today because they are not different enough to make people pull them like they do for real copper cents and real silver dimes and larger coins. The new dollars are smaller because they are 'pretending' to be part gold which once was actually used for spending money. If you know anyone who was in adult before 1933, they may remember when you could go to the store and spend a gold coin without someone thinking you were crazy. before 1933, the smallest gold coin was still a lot of money so many people (especially kids) would not have one. The fact this question was asked means at least someone does not remember when coins were real money and the paper stuff was what was backed only by faith in the government that issued it.
Heck you guys are going to hate me, I send thousands of Penny`s to get melted I just sent 50 kilos a few weeks back and here`s the tub getting filled up again
I tend to collect the pre 1860 Penny`s, they were thicker and larger and better struck in pure copper, here`s one I got today compared to the more modern bronzes, note the date is on the obverse.
That's up to you but it seems like the sign of someone who treats collecting as a business. There's nothing wrong with that but for me collecting is more of an emotional experience. I have trouble destroying any coin and I think some of the more beat up coins are neat because they look old. This is a hobby where everyone gets their own kind of thrill. For some it's scouring through thousands of rolls looking for errors and for others it's looking through a value bin and finding that one hidden gem. For me there's just some coins that are aesthetically pleasing and I don't care what they're worth; I want them. I'll always buy British pennies if I see them cheap and even if I have plenty of that date already.
My question was rhetorical; I didn't expect anybody to think I didn't know the answer. But I enjoyed the condescension implied, anyway.
