Coins for collectors - Circulated 1900 British Queen Victoria One Penny Coin / Great Britain

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The combination of a Caucasian woman and masculine Native American headgear raised eyebrows, even at the time. The Mint Director himself, James Ross Snowden, commented on the mismatch. Elizabeth II Dei Gratia Britanniarum Omnium Regina Fidei Defensor, or "Elizabeth II by the Grace of God Queen of All the Britains, Defender of the Faith" The date appears in the same sized lettering at the bottom of the coin. The Reverse of the 1900 Indian Head Penny Georgius Dei Gratia/Magnae Britanniae Franciae et Hiberniae Rex, or George by the Grace of God/King of Great Britain, France and Ireland. The British throne's claim to France was at this point purely historic. In 1900, the Philadelphia Mint facility was the only one legally permitted to strike pennies. So both business strike and proof coins came from here. And none of them have a mint mark.

Following the death of Queen Victoria on 22 January 1901, officials at the Royal Mint planned for new coins, to bear the image of her son and successor, Edward VII. New coin designs had been introduced in the 1890s, and Mint officials believed the British people wanted as few changes to the coinage as possible. Thus, it was decided not to alter the reverses of the three bronze coins (the penny, halfpenny and farthing), as a new portrait of the Queen had been introduced in 1895. At that time, the Engraver of the Royal Mint, George William de Saulles, had modified Leonard Charles Wyon's depiction of Britannia on the reverse of the bronze coins—the lighthouse and sailing ship that had flanked her were removed. De Saulles was tasked with creating a depiction of Edward for the King's new coinage. [2] The Mint continued to strike coins depicting Victoria, dated 1901, until the King's coinage was ready in May 1902. [3] Edwardus VII Dei Gratia Britanniarum Omnium Rex Fidei Defensor et Indiae Imperator, or "Edward VII by the Grace of God King of all the Britains, Defender of the Faith and Emperor of India" They’re divided into four categories: the three standard colors, plus cameos. Cameo designation is awarded to proof coins that have an attractive contrast between mirror-like fields and frosting on the raised parts of the design. Weighing just under 10g and measuring slightly less than 31mm, bronze pennies continued to be minted for general circulation until 1967. Final proof sets were minted in 1970, before decimalisation in 1971 marked the end of the old penny. The obverse of George IV's pennies shows a left-facing laureated head engraved by William Wyon. This was the second portrait of George IV, and was adopted after the King expressed a dislike for the one engraved by Benedetto Pistrucci, which was never used on the penny. The penny is inscribed GEORGIUS IV DEI GRATIA [g] and the date, while the reverse shows a right-facing seated Britannia with a shield and trident, inscribed BRITANNIAR REX FID DEF. [h] The penny at this time weighed 18.8grams and had a diameter of 34 millimetres, the same as Boulton's 1806–1807 pennies. [18]

1900 Queen Victoria Penny Rare British Coins

To combat this in 1797, Birmingham industrialist, Matthew Bolton was authorised by The Bank of England to strike the first legal tender copper pennies, and two-pence coins.

The third variety is certified only by the NGC, but is perhaps the clearest of all. You can see the original “9” to the left and bottom of the final one. And the lower part of the original first “0” is visible at the bottom of that digit. By the end of George's reign, in 1936, the bronze penny, which had felt lighter in weight compared with older coppers when the alloy was first used for it in 1860, was regarded as weighty and cumbersome, the heaviest bronze coin in circulation in Europe. The weight when in bulk caused problems for business; the London Passenger Transport Board received 6,000 tonnes of pennies, halfpennies and farthings a year. [15] A reduction of size for the penny was deemed impractical, given the time it would take to recoin the 3,000,000,000 pennies in circulation, and because many automatic machines that took pennies would have to be reconfigured. [18] The major response would be the 1937 debut of the brass threepence coin. This twelve-sided piece was introduced since threepence worth of pennies or halfpennies was heavy and inconvenient, and the silver threepenny bit was deemed too small. [19] 1933 rarity [ edit ]

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The Mint Director, James Snowden, said the alterations gave the coins “more national character”. Other Features of the 1900 Indian Head Penny Above the image, the country name curves parallel to the coin edge. “UNITED STATES” is inscribed to the left of Liberty’s head, “OF AMERICA” to the right. If you’re interested in error coins, we’ve got you covered too. We’ll look at some of the interesting mistakes that managed to get past the Mint’s quality control processes. Lamination errors occur because of a problem with the composition of the planchet. Pieces of the surface peel away, removing elements of the design. A closer look, however, reveals that the face is actually that of Lady Liberty. And the word “LIBERTY” is inscribed on her headband.