The English penny (plural "pence"), originally a coin of pure silver, was introduced by King Offa of Mercia. These coins were similar in size and weight to the continental '' deniers'' of the period and to the Anglo-Saxon

sceat A ( ; ang, sceatt , ) was a small, thick silver coin minted in England, Frisia, and Jutland during the Anglo-Saxon period that normally weighed 0.8–1.3 grams. History Its name derives from Old English ', meaning "wealth", "money", and "c ...

s which had preceded it. Throughout the period of the

Kingdom of England The Kingdom of England (, ) was a sovereign state on the island of Great Britain from 12 July 927, when it emerged from various History of Anglo-Saxon England, Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, until 1 May 1707, when it united with Kingdom of Scotland, ...

, from its beginnings in the 9th century, the penny was produced in silver. Pennies of the same nominal value, of a

pound sterling Sterling (abbreviation: stg; Other spelling styles, such as STG and Stg, are also seen. ISO code: GBP) is the currency of the United Kingdom and nine of its associated territories. The pound ( sign: £) is the main unit of sterling, and ...

, were in circulation continuously until the creation of the

Kingdom of Great Britain The Kingdom of Great Britain (officially Great Britain) was a Sovereign state, sovereign country in Western Europe from 1 May 1707 to the end of 31 December 1800. The state was created by the 1706 Treaty of Union and ratified by the Acts of ...

in 1707.

Etymology

The name "penny" comes from the

Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlers in the mid-5th c ...

''pennige'' (), sharing the same root as the German ''

Pfennig The 'pfennig' (; . 'pfennigs' or ; symbol pf or ₰) or penny is a former German coin or note, which was the official currency from the 9th century until the introduction of the euro in 2002. While a valuable coin during the Middle Ages, ...

''. Its abbreviation d. comes from the Roman ''

denarius The denarius (, dēnāriī ) was the standard Roman silver coin from its introduction in the Second Punic War to the reign of Gordian III (AD 238–244), when it was gradually replaced by the antoninianus. It continued to be minted in very ...

'' 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: *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

Anglo-Saxon silver pennies were the currency used to pay the

Danegeld Danegeld (; "Danish tax", literally "Dane yield" or tribute) was a tax raised to pay tribute or protection money to the Viking raiders to save a land from being ravaged. It was called the ''geld'' or ''gafol'' in eleventh-century sources. It ...

, essentially protection money paid to the

Vikings Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and ...

so that they would go away and not ravage the land. As an illustration of how heavy a burden the Danegeld was, more Anglo-Saxon pennies from the decades around the first millennium have been found in Denmark than in England. In the reign of Ethelred the Unready (978–1016), some 40 million pennies were paid to the Danes, while King Canute (Knut) (1016–1035) paid off his invasion army with another 20 million pennies. This adds up to about of silver, equivalent to £250,000 at the time, and worth about £10 million in money (its purchasing power at that time may have exceeded £100 million and may have been as high as £1 billion in 2005). The penny initially weighed 20 to 22.5 modern grains (1.3 to 1.5 g). It was standardized to 32 Tower grains, of a Tower pound (approx. 350 g). The alloy was set to

sterling silver Sterling silver is an alloy of silver containing 92.5% by weight of silver and 7.5% by weight of other metals, usually copper. The sterling silver standard has a minimum millesimal fineness of 925. '' Fine silver'', which is 99.9% pure silver, i ...

of .925

fineness The fineness of a precious metal object (coin, bar, jewelry, etc.) represents the weight of ''fine metal'' therein, in proportion to the total weight which includes alloying base metals and any impurities. Alloy metals are added to increase hardne ...

in 1158 under King Henry II. The weight standard was changed to the

Troy pound Troy weight is a system of units of mass that originated in 15th-century England, and is primarily used in the precious metals industry. The troy weight units are the grain, the pennyweight (24 grains), the troy ounce (20 pennyweights), and th ...

(373.242 g) in 1527 under Henry VIII, i.e. a

pennyweight A pennyweight (dwt) is a unit of mass equal to 24 grains, of a troy ounce, of a troy pound, approximately 0.054857 avoirdupois ounce and exactly 1.55517384 grams. It is abbreviated dwt, ''d'' standing for ''denarius'' (an ancien ...

became about 1.555

gram The gram (originally gramme; SI unit symbol g) is a unit of mass in the International System of Units (SI) equal to one one thousandth of a kilogram. Originally defined as of 1795 as "the absolute weight of a volume of pure water equal to th ...

s. 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 Offa, the penny was the only denomination of coin minted in England for 500 years, until the attempted gold coinage issue of King Henry III in 1257 and a few halfpennies and farthings in 1222, the introduction of the groat by King Edward I in 1279, under whom the halfpenny and farthing were also reintroduced, and the later issues of King Edward III. At the time of the 1702 London Mint Assay by Sir

Isaac Newton Sir Isaac Newton (25 December 1642 – 20 March 1726/27) was an English mathematician, physicist, astronomer, alchemist, theologian, and author (described in his time as a " natural philosopher"), widely recognised as one of the grea ...

, the silver content of British coinage was defined to be one

troy ounce Troy weight is a system of units of mass that originated in 15th-century England, and is primarily used in the precious metals industry. The troy weight units are the grain, the pennyweight (24 grains), the troy ounce (20 pennyweights), and th ...

for 62 pence. Therefore, the value of the monetary

was equivalent to only 3.87 troy ounces of sterling silver. This was the standard from 1601 to 1816.

Pennies by period

* History of the English penny (c. 600-1066) *

History of the English penny (1066-1154) The English penny (plural "pence"), originally a coin of pure silver, was introduced by King Offa of Mercia. These coins were similar in size and weight to the continental '' deniers'' of the period and to the Anglo-Saxon sceats which had p ...

(The Early Normans and the Anarchy, 1066–1154) *

History of the English penny (1154-1485) The English penny (plural "pence"), originally a coin of pure silver, was introduced by King Offa of Mercia. These coins were similar in size and weight to the continental '' deniers'' of the period and to the Anglo-Saxon sceats which had p ...

(The Plantagenets, 1154–1485) *

History of the English penny (1485-1603) The English penny (plural "pence"), originally a coin of pure silver, was introduced by King Offa of Mercia. These coins were similar in size and weight to the continental ''denier (coin), deniers'' of the period and to the Anglo-Saxon scea ...

(The Tudors, 1485–1603) * History of the English penny (1603–1707) (The Stuarts and the Commonwealth) *

History of the British penny (1714-1901) The British pre-decimal penny was a denomination of sterling coinage worth of one pound or of one shilling. Its symbol was ''d'', from the Roman denarius. It was a continuation of the earlier English penny, and in Scotland it had the same mon ...

(The Hanoverians) * History of the British penny (1901-1970) (The twentieth century penny, 1901–1970) * Decimal Day, 1971 *

Penny (British decimal coin) The British decimal one penny (1p) coin is a unit of currency and denomination of sterling coinage worth one-hundredth of one pound. Its obverse has featured the profile of Queen Elizabeth II since the coin's introduction on 15 February 1971, ...

(Post-decimalisation, 1971–present)

Notes

References