1800 1 Pence?

G'day, it's a silver penny. I'm pretty sure it's the smallest silver coin ever made in Britain.
In that era, there were also copper pennies: 1797, & 1806 are common dates, but nothing in between.
Anyway, these silver coins were made for a ceremony called "The Maundy". They were made in denominations of 1d, 2d, 3d, & 4d. A lot of people have "sets", but the mintages for each denomination were not the same, that is, they were not minted as sets.
see this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maundy_money
but note, it is incorrect in what it says in the paragraph beginning "Until 1820 ordinary silver coinage was used for the Maundy money ..."
In the era you are interested in, Maundy money was not minted every year, and so there are a lot of 1800 coins about, relatively speaking. Since the Victorian era, coins bearing a new date are minted each year.
I'm trying to put together a set bearing date 1820 - only missing the 3d.
The maundy coins were minted in 2008, and the penny is substantially similar to the one you have.

Another interesting feature of your coin:
it was made before the Act of Union 1800, so the legend asserts that George III is the King of "Great Britain [MAG. BR.], ... & Ireland [HIB]". In between these two, he also claims to be King of France (Abbreviated to FR). After 1800, the "United Kingdom" came into existence, as we know it today.

Have a close look at the portrait of the King, especially his clothes. They were very artistic in those times, and imaginative: the sculptor has put him in Roman armour, as if he were Julius Caesar. I think that this is one of the funniest portraits of any King or Queen, ever. Just my opinion.

Your coin has a lot of history, in spite of its size.
I'd take very special care of it.

Peter in Oz

Thanks, and a few follow up questions?
Peter, from your statements, this coin could have been produced in a year other then 1800? I had noticed the difference in the portrait, in the pictures I found they showed him wearing a wreath? which made me think of the Roman empire also.
Sap, can you help me understand the lines or voids in this coin? They do not look like wear or misuse so I'm wondering if it's just the quality of the metal or caused by the minting process itself?

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Sap, can you help me understand the lines or voids in this coin? They do not look like wear or misuse so I'm wondering if it's just the quality of the metal or caused by the minting process itself?

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Quite correct on both counts, I believe.

To me, the streaking and peeling look like lamination flaws, resulting from impurities and air bubbles, trapped in the original silver ingot, were flattened and stretched when the ingot was rolled and flattened into the metal strip prior to having the planchets punched out.

I've often seen this effect on copper coins, but rarely on silver. But then, I've rarely looked at British silver coins of this time period under that much magnification.