HISTORY OF THE PENNY

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXXII, Issue 2806, 27 November 1931, Page 2 (Supplement)

HISTORY OF THE PENNY

THE COPPER COINAGE OF ENGLAND.

The first coinage of the British was in gold, somewhat, barbarous imitations of the gold stater of Philip of Macedon, the lather ot Alexander the Great. The go’.d was used just as found. It varied much in quality, and consequently in colour. These coins were used from a couple of hundred years B.C. until the arrival of the Romans. By 80 A.D. Roman money in gold, silver, and bronze or brass* had superseded that, of the Britons. After the departure of the Romans in 414 A.D. the Anglo-Saxons introduced a completely new system; sceattas of silver predominated, although there were a few copper stycas. Then with awakening nationality under the Heptarchy came the silver penny, which was, with a few fractions formed by breaking the coin, to remain the sole currency of the kingdom until Edward 111., in 1327. That, monarch introduced the groat, or great penny, value fourpence. lie was responsible also for another innovation, a gold coinage of nobles, the name derived from the noble metal of which they were composed. By the time of the accession of the Stuarts, in 1603, there was a great variety of gold and silver coins. In gold, the sovereign and its half, the sceptre unit of popular phrase, double crown, crown, thistle crown, half-crown, rose and spur rial, angel, and laurel; in silver-—the familiar crown, half-crown, shilling, sixepnee, groat, half-groat, penny, and halfpenny. The royal management of the coinage, however, was not good. There was such a shortage of small money that the peop’e took the business into their own hands, and the innkeepers in particular issued copper and lead ■tokens, somewhat resembling the Scottish copper coins. Their hands forced, the Stuart kings issued patents to various noble favourites to coin copper farthings; a farthing went a long way in those days. It was* not until the return of “ The Merrv Monarch.” Charles IL—twelve years after the restoration, in fact—that in 1672 the first authorised issue of regal copper coins took place. They were the half-penny and farthing in copper and a farthing in tin. A proclamation dated 16th August, 1672, ordered forty half-pence or eighty farthings to be struck from a pound avoirdupois of pure refined Swedish copper. The penny, if such had existed, would therefore have weighed four-fifths of an ounce. The obverse was the usual portrait bust of the king, laureated and in armour; on the reverse was the familiar figure of Britannia designed by Roettier, who had superseded Simon, whose heinous offence of cutting dies for Cromwell was unforgivable. It had always been alleged that the Princess Frances, the handsome sister of Charles, and of somewhat similar disposition, sat for the figure. The general character of the design followed that of the Roman coins showing Britannia,but with a marked improvement in detail. James 11. in his short reign issued tin coins only. A few of these were struck for the hist time in the first three years of William and Mary. The issue of half-pence and farthings continued steadily, though Anne issued farthings only. There is a widespread delusion that these are very scarce and of great value. There was certainly but one issue, 1714 A. 1)., but they arc quite common. The various patterns, never issued, are relatively scarce, and fetch high prices. George I. cut the weight down to four-sevenths of an ounce for the nominal penny, not yet issued, or twenty-eight to the pound; hut George 11. partially restored the weight, striking twentythree to the pound. All these halfnence and farthings are common, and generally in very poor condition. Two issues had mistakes in spelling, one Georgius, the other Gcorius; both are rare and fetch high prices. Halfpence and farthings as usual were issued from 1770 to 1775 by George 111. but in ridiculously inadequate quantities. Therefore came the rush of what are known to collectors as the eighteenth-century tokens, issued by all sorts of people — tradesmen, carriers, mining companies, workhouses, and municipalities. There are over 26,000 verities of these recorded. Fresh varieties are continually turning up, and it is expected that the figure will eventually reach not less than 30,000. * Something had to be done. Boulton of Soho, near Birmingham, was given the job of making 500 tons of copper into pennies of one ounce each, nearly eighteen millions. He also struck the two-penny pieces of two ounces each, popularly known as cart-wheels. They were designed by Kughlcr, a diesinker in Boulton’s employ. Several novelties were introduced. There was a raised flat rim with the lettering sunk in or incuse. The figure of Britannia was altered, the olive branch and trident were substituted for the laurel and spear; a ship in the distance was inserted; on one of the rocks is Soho in minute letters and a small K on the drapery of the bust on the obverse. This formed the first issue of a copper penny in England. Both the two-penny and penny are scarce in fine condition, and are much prized by collectors. Two years later halfpence and farthings of similar design were issued; but at the rate of thirtysix half-pence to the pound instead of thirlv-two, copper having advanced in price. Then in 1806 the copper penny of twenty-four to the pound or twothirds of an ounce cash same into being . It remained ’ the standard throughout the reigns of George IV. and William IV. and until 1860 under Victoria. In that year bronze, similar to that used in the French coinage, having 95 per cent of copper, four of tin and one of zinc was adopted, and sim-f then has remained the standard With » M slight alterations in the percentages. Forty-eight are made from a pound avoirdupois, or onethird of an ounce each penny. There are pennies, half-pence, farthings, and half and third farthings, the last two coins being for use principally in Cevlon and Malta. To recapitulate, copper half-pence and farthings were issued from 672 to 18b0; copper pennies from 1797 to 1860; and bronze pence, half-pence, and farthings since 1860.