Description
This listing is for the photographed 1860 Great Britain Penny, as pictured. These are large cent sizes, about the size of a US Half Dollar. The British pre-decimal halfpenny coin, usually simply known as a ha'penny, historically occasionally also as the obol & once abbreviated 'ob' (from the Latin 'obulus'), was a unit of currency that equalled half of a penny or 1/480 of a pound sterling. Originally the halfpenny was minted in copper, but after 1860 it was minted in bronze. in the run-up to decimalisation it ceased to be legal tender from 31 July 1969. The halfpenny featured two different designs on its reverse during its years in circulation. From 1672 until 1936 the image of Britannia appeared on the reverse, & from 1937 onwards the image of the Golden Hind appeared. Like all British coinage, it bore the portrait of the monarch on the obverse. The halfpennies of Queen Victoria's long reign (1837-1901) can be divided into the copper issue of 1838-1860, & the bronze issue of 1860-1901 (which itself is split between 1894 & 1895 into coins displaying the "young head" & the "old head" of the Queen). The bronze coins weighed 5.5-5.8 grams & were 25 millimetres in diameter. The bronze coins also featured the denomination HALF PENNY on the reverse for the first time, with the date in the exergue beneath Britannia. The inscription on the obverse of the "young head" coins reads VICTORIA D G BRITT REG F D, while on the "old head" it is VICTORIA DEI GRA BRITT REGINA FID DEF IND IMP. Some 1874-1876 & 1881-1882 halfpennies have an "H" mintmark underneath the date, indicating that they were produced at the Heaton mint in Birmingham. Halfpennies were produced in all years of Victoria's reign except 1837, 1840, 1842, 1849 & 1850. 1860 Great Britain One Penny - Fine Grade / Condition - UK Large Penny 1860 - Queen Victoria 1 Penny - Bronze - UK penny Young Head 1860 1860 Great Britain One Penny - Fine Grade/Condition Uk Large Queen Victoria 1 Bronze Penny Young Head
