View source for Penny (English coin)

{{Short description|Coin introduced in England c. 785}}
{{About||silver pennies produced after 1820|Maundy money|the penny used from 1707 to 1971|Penny (British pre-decimal coin)|the penny in current use in the United Kingdom|Penny (British decimal coin)}}
{{Use British English|date=September 2019}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2019}}
{{More citations needed|date=April 2018}}
{{History of the English penny}}
[[File:Edgar, King of England, silver 'reform' penny; struck 973-975 AD.jpg|thumb|310x310px|Silver 'reform' penny of [[Edgar the Peaceful|Edgar I of England]], Lewes [[Mint (coin)|mint]], {{Circa|973}}–975.]]
The English '''penny''' (plural "pence"), originally a coin of {{Convert|1.3|to|1.5|g|lk=out|abbr=off|ozt oz}} pure silver, was introduced {{Circa|785|lk=yes}} by King [[Offa of Mercia]]. These coins were similar in size and weight to the continental ''[[denier (coin)|denier]]s'' of the period and to the [[Anglo-Saxon]] [[sceat]]s 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, {{frac|240}} of a [[pound sterling]], were in circulation continuously until the creation of the [[Kingdom of Great Britain]] in 1707.<ref>And, indeed, until [[Decimal Day|decimalisation in 1971]], at which time a [[penny (British decimal coin)|new penny]] was introduced worth 2.4 times the value of the old coin.</ref>

==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:<ref>{{cite web |url=https://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/penny |title=Penny - Idioms |work=The Free Dictionary}}</ref>
*worth every penny
*penny-pincher
*penny-wise and pound-foolish
*not have two pennies to rub together
*cut (one) off without a penny
*mean enough to steal a penny off a dead man's eyes
*[[public toilet|spend a penny]]

==History==
{{Main|Pound sterling#History}}
[[Anglo-Saxon England|Anglo-Saxon]] silver pennies were the currency used to pay the [[Danegeld]], essentially protection money paid to the [[Vikings]] 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 II of England|Ethelred the Unready]] (978–1016), some 40 million pennies were paid to the Danes, while [[Canute the Great|King Canute (Knut)]] (1016–1035) paid off his invasion army with another 20 million pennies. This adds up to about {{Convert|2,800,000|ozt|t ST|lk=in|abbr=off}} of silver, equivalent to [[Pound sterling|£]]250,000 at the time, and worth about £10 million in {{As of|2005|alt=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|date=September 2019}}

The penny initially weighed 20 to 22.5 [[grain (measure)|modern grain]]s (1.3 to 1.5&nbsp;g). It was standardized to 32 Tower grains, {{frac|1|240}} of a [[Pound (mass)|Tower pound]] (approx. 350&nbsp;[[gram|g]]). The alloy was set to [[sterling silver]] of .925 [[fineness]] in 1158 under [[Henry II of England|King Henry II]]. The weight standard was changed to the [[Troy weight|Troy pound]] (373.242&nbsp;g) in 1527 under [[Henry VIII of England|Henry VIII]], i.e. a [[pennyweight]] became about 1.555 [[gram]]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 [[Obverse and reverse|reverse]] side of the coin.

From the time of King [[Offa of Mercia|Offa]], the penny was the only denomination of coin minted in England for 500 years, until the attempted [[Gold penny|gold coinage]] issue of King [[Henry III of England|Henry III]] in 1257 and a few halfpennies and farthings in 1222, the introduction of the groat by King [[Edward I of England|Edward I]] in 1279, under whom the halfpenny and farthing were also reintroduced, and the later [[English coin Florin or Double Leopard|issues]] of King [[Edward III of England|Edward III]].

At the time of the 1702 London Mint Assay by Sir [[Isaac Newton]], the silver content of British coinage was defined to be one [[troy ounce]] of [[sterling silver]] for 62 pence, or {{convert|1/62|ozt|mg|0|disp=out}} per penny. Therefore, the value of the monetary [[pound sterling]] was equivalent to only {{convert|3.87|ozt|g}} 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 Early Normans and the Anarchy, 1066–1154)
*[[History of the English penny (1154–1485)]] (The Plantagenets, 1154–1485)
*[[History of the English penny (1485–1603)]] (The Tudors, 1485–1603)
*[[History of the English penny (1603–1707)]] (The Stuarts and the Commonwealth)
*[[History of the British penny (1714–1901)]] (The Hanoverians)
*[[History of the British penny (1901–1970)]] (The twentieth century penny, 1901–1970)
*[[Decimal Day|Decimal Day, 1971]]
*[[Penny (British decimal coin)]] (post-decimalisation, 1971–present)

==See also==
{{Portal|Money|Numismatics}}
*[[Coins of the pound sterling]]
*[[Sixpence (British coin)|Sixpence]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==References==
*''Coincraft's Standard Catalogue English & UK Coins 1066 to Date'', Richard Lobel, Coincraft. {{ISBN|0-9526228-8-2}}

{{Coins of England}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Penny}}
[[Category:780s establishments]]
[[Category:8th-century establishments in England]]
[[Category:1707 disestablishments in England]]
[[Category:Coins of England]]
[[Category:Pennies]]
[[Category:Silver coins]]

[[no:Old penny sterling]]
[[pt:Penny antigo]]