Penny (English coin)

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

For silver pennies produced after 1820, see
Maundy money. For the Great Britain and UK penny from 1707 to 1971, see Penny (British pre-decimal coin). For the penny in current use in the United Kingdom, see Penny (British decimal coin)
.
This article is part of a series on the
History of the
English penny
Obverse of silver 'reform' penny of Edgar, King of England; struck 973-975.
mint
, c. 973–975.

The English penny (plural "pence"), originally a coin of 1.3 to 1.5 grams (0.042 to 0.048

Anglo-Saxon sceats
which had preceded it.

Throughout the period of the Kingdom of England, from its beginnings in the 9th century, the penny was produced in silver. Pennies of the same nominal value, 1⁄240 of a pound sterling, were in circulation continuously until the creation of the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707.[1]

Etymology

The name "penny" comes from the Old English pennige (pronounced [ˈpennije]), sharing the same root as the German Pfennig.[2] Its abbreviation d. comes from the Roman denarius and was used until decimalisation in 1971.

Idioms

Due to their ubiquity pennies have accumulated a great number of idioms to their name usually recognizing them for their commonality and minuscule value. These might include:[3]

  • cut (one) off without a penny
  • mean enough to steal a penny off a dead man's eyes
  • not have two pennies to rub together
  • penny-pincher
  • penny-wise and pound-foolish
  • spend a penny
  • worth every penny

History

Main article: Pound sterling § History

troy ounces (87 tonnes; 96 short tons) of silver, equivalent to £250,000 at the time, and worth about £10 million in 2005 money (its purchasing power at that time may have exceeded £100 million and may have been as high as £1 billion in 2005).[citation needed
]

The penny initially weighed 20 to 22.5

Henry VIII, i.e. a pennyweight became about 1.555 grams. As the purity and weight of the coin was critical, the name of the moneyer who manufactured the coin, and at which mint, often appeared on the reverse
side of the coin.

From the time of King

issues of King Edward III
.

At the time of the 1702 London Mint Assay by Sir

troy ounce of sterling silver for 62 pence, or 502 mg per penny. Therefore, the value of the monetary pound sterling
was equivalent to only 3.87 troy ounces (120 g) of sterling silver. This was the standard from 1601 to 1816.

Pennies by period

See also

Notes

  1. ^ And, indeed, until decimalisation in 1971, at which time a new penny was introduced worth 2.4 times the value of the old coin.
  2. ^ Coins and more exclusivecoins.blogspot.com. Retrieved 4 September 2021
  3. ^ "Penny - Idioms". The Free Dictionary.

References

  • Coincraft's Standard Catalogue English & UK Coins 1066 to Date, Richard Lobel, Coincraft.
    ISBN 0-9526228-8-2
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