There were two versions of the 1856 penny. One difference was the head of the trident. The easiest difference to spot is one has "DEF:" and the other has "DEF :"(space between the F and colon ). Yours is the one with no space.
Spink 2012 gives the values of your penny as F £115, VF £300, EF £800
CCGB 2012 gives values of F £70, VF £200, EF £700. It also suggests a mintage of 1,212,288 (possibly for both versions - not clear in book ).
I am no expert but I would guess yours is somewhere between F and VF. Maybe a more expert forum member can assist here.
Still, a very nice coin to get from a junkshop. Good spot!
sml The penny and half penny from this era have similar designs . Looking at the trident yours appears to be a penny plain trident, near colon variety. Nice pick up a quite valuable coin
Nice find from a junk box. I would grade it F or thereabouts with problems (the edge damage) It has a good tone. Ignore published mintages they were the nr of coins issued that year not necessarily all dated 1856. 1856 is a key date
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