1971 New Penny Any Thoughts!

From as early as Charlemagne and King Offa the 12 pennies per shilling and 20 shillings per pound units of account were commonly thought of in Europe. Only the pennies were actual coins at that point as the others were merely units of account. These borrowed from the Roman units for denarius, etc. Pepin and Charlemagne's new silver pennies were then referred to as new denarius as they were silver at that time. This is why, to this day, the pennies of the old English system are referred to as 1D, for denarius, from King Offa's adoption of the similar silver pennies. Although weights of these early coins was not precisely 240 to the pound, William I later fixed the actual wieghts to match the standard. For about a thousand years the English monetary system was based on this. In 1971, the UK changed to a decimal coinage system (100 pennies to the pound) and the new penny you posted is among the first of the new coins, although some new denominations were actually issued as early as 1968. Although the United Kingdom was among the last to change to a decimal coinage, your 1971 new penny in some ways parallels the new pennies of Pepin and Charlemagne from 1200 years earlier. It signaled the end of old ways and acknowledged that while every nation is sovereign unto itself, it must adapt and adopt systems that make it competitive in a world marketplace.

Mintage for 1971 'new' penny: 1521,666250.

This, along with the 1971 2p coin, is the oldest still in circulation within the UK. It is bronze but later issues are copper-coated steel because it is cheaper.