NEW PENNY: COIN OF UNITED KINGDOM
1/2 new penny, 1971: United Kingdom
NEW PENNY: a temporary denomination of British coins that were in circulation during the period of the revolutionary monetary reform and the population getting used to decimalisation — the final transition to the decimal monetary system (1 pound = 100 pence).
Ruler: Elizabeth II — Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 1952 until her death in 2022.
½ NEW PENNY.
St Edward's Crown — the centrepiece of the Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom (have traditionally been used to crown English and British monarchs at their coronations since the 13th century; the original was destroyed in the 17th century during the English Civil War).
D G REG F D - 1971 - ELIZABETH II (Latin "Dei Gratia Regina Fidei Defensor"): Elizabeth the Second, Queen by the Grace of God, Defender of the Faith.
Crowned portrait of Queen Elizabeth II.
Coin design: Christopher Ironside and Arnold Machin.
Royal Mint (United Kingdom).
Mintage: 1.394.188.250.
- Bronze: 17 mm - 1.79 g
- Reference price: 0.2$
COIN NEW PENNY — WHERE & WHEN (coins catalog: by names & emitents)
- UNITED KINGDOM (1971-1981): new penny = 1/100 pound
- BAILIWICK OF GUERNSEY (1968-1971): new penny = 1/100 pound
- ISLE OF MAN (1971-1975): new penny = 1/100 pound
- BAILIWICK OF JERSEY (1968-1980): new penny = 1/100 pound
NEW PENNY as coin name.
The main theme of my collection is coin names (coins of various denominations). At one time, there were doubts about what to consider as separate names of coins. It was most difficult to decide on those denominations that contain the prefixes "new", "half" etc... in their name.
After long deliberations, I decided for myself that these are, after all, separate denominations (of course, not completely independent, rather varieties) and they should be added to my collection.
One of the most well-known among numismatists for variants of such inferior, but still such separate, names of denominations is "new penny". This coin was issued during 1971-1981 in the United Kingdom. Also, in the mentioned period, new pennies of other neighboring British territories were minted: Guernsey, Isle of Man, Jersey.
Regarding the feasibility of introducing such a denomination into circulation: until the early 70s of the 20th century, the British Isles continued to use an outdated, archaic monetary system: 1 pound = 4 crown = 10 florin = 20 shilling = 240 penny = 960 farthing. Decimalization was carried out only in 1971: the division of the main monetary unit (pound) into 100 smaller units (pence) was introduced. In fact, this reform was maximally revolutionary and unusual for the population. To facilitate the transition to the new monetary system, a temporary denomination was issued — the new penny.
