1 New Penny - Elizabeth II 2nd portrait (1971–1981)

One row for each year the 1 New Penny - Elizabeth II 2nd portrait was struck. Prices are medians of verified sold listings matched to that year from the listing: circulated is worn condition up to Extremely Fine, uncirculated is About Uncirculated or better. A count in brackets means fewer than three sales behind the figure; a grey figure marked "type" is the median across every year, shown where that year has no sale of its own yet; years with no sales yet fill in as sales are recorded. Most types have been searched year by year only since October 2026, so later years are still filling in. Use the grade table below for a price by condition across all years.

About the 1971 1 New Penny - Elizabeth II

The 1971 1 New Penny - Elizabeth II is a circulating 1 penny coin issued from 1971 to 1981, struck in bronze (97% Cu, 2.5% Zn, 0.5% Sn). It weighs 3.56g and measures 20.3mm across. Reverse design: A crowned portcullis with chains (an adaptation of the Badge of Henry VII which is now the Badge of the Palace of Westminster) and the face value.

Mintage figures are recorded for 10 years between 1971 and 1981, 4,409,822,250 coins in all. 1975 is the scarcest date, with 221,604,000 struck.

Common questions

History and design

The 1p was introduced on 15 February 1971, Decimal Day, together with the ½p and 2p. Unlike the 5p and 10p, these three bronze coins had no exact equivalent in the old money, so the Royal Mint Museum records that they were held back until the day itself.

They had been struck well in advance. The Museum notes that the stockpile of decimal bronze was made at the new Royal Mint at Llantrisant in South Wales, opened in December 1968, and that it was virtually finished by August 1970. That is why the Royal Mint's figure for coins dated 1971 is so large: 1,521,666,250, the highest of any 1p date.

No 1p was issued for circulation dated 1972. Striking resumed in 1973 and ran every year to 1981, and the ten circulating dates total 4,409,822,250.

Christopher Ironside designed the reverse, one of the set chosen for the decimal coinage after a public competition. It shows a crowned portcullis with chains, adapted from the badge of Henry VII that is now the badge of the Palace of Westminster. NEW PENNY runs above and the figure 1 sits below.

The Royal Mint explains that the word NEW was there to distinguish the coins from the pre-decimal coinage, and that it was removed in 1982. The obverse carries Arnold Machin's portrait of the Queen. The coin is bronze (97% copper, 2.5% zinc, 0.5% tin) with a plain edge.

Collecting notes

These coins are still legal tender and still turn up in change, although they are now more than forty years old. All are bronze, so none is attracted to a magnet. The Royal Mint switched the 1p to copper-plated steel in September 1992.

No date is scarce by mintage. The lowest circulating figure of the type is 221,604,000 for 1975, and six of the ten dates exceed 300 million. Interest lies in condition rather than date.

A penny reading ONE PENNY with the same portrait belongs to the 1982 to 1984 type.