1 Penny - Edward VII (1902–1910)

One row for each year the 1 Penny - Edward VII 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. 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 1902 1 Penny - Edward VII

The 1902 1 Penny - Edward VII is a circulating 1 penny coin issued from 1902 to 1910, struck in bronze. It weighs 9.45g and measures 30.8mm across. Reverse design: Seated figure of Britannia right, with trident in left hand and shield bearing the Union flag in right, sea behind, denomination above and date in exergue.

Mintage figures are recorded for 9 years between 1902 and 1910, 245,072,600 coins in all. 1904 is the scarcest date, with 12,913,100 struck. It is no longer legal tender (withdrawn 1971), so its value is to collectors only.

Common questions

History and design

The Mint went on striking Victorian pennies dated 1901 until Edward VII's coinage was ready in May 1902. Officials decided not to touch the bronze reverses, which had been revised as recently as 1895, so the change was to the portrait alone. A proclamation of 10 December 1901 made the new bronze coins current from 1 January 1902.

Pennies were struck in every year of the reign to the established bronze standard of 95 percent copper, 4 percent tin and 1 percent zinc. Coin Hunter and Wikipedia give identical figures, totalling 245,073,024. 1904 was the smallest year at 12,913,152 and 1907 the largest at 47,322,240. The old penny remained legal tender until 31 August 1971.

George William de Saulles, Engraver to the Royal Mint, modelled the King's bare head from two sittings in 1901, helped by a drawing by court painter Emil Fuchs. He kept the relief low to make the coin easy to strike. The legend reads EDWARDVS VII DEI GRA BRITT OMN REX FID DEF IND IMP, for Edward VII, by the grace of God King of all the Britains, Defender of the Faith, Emperor of India.

The reverse shows Britannia seated with shield and trident, ONE PENNY around and the date below. It is Leonard Charles Wyon's figure as simplified by de Saulles in 1895, without the lighthouse and ship of earlier pennies.

Varieties and errors

The 1902 low tide, with the old lower sea level, is the best known variety. Tony Clayton also records a scarce open 3 for 1903, two reverses for 1905 that differ in how the E of PENNY lines up, and a change of both dies during 1908 that brought central colons on the obverse and a choppier sea on the reverse. Faint ghosting of the portrait on the reverse comes from the large head causing metal flow problems, so it is a striking characteristic rather than an error.

Collecting notes

Check the sea line on 1902 coins and the last digit on 1903 coins before anything else. For dates, 1904 is the lowest mintage, followed by 1905 and 1909. Ghosting is part of how these pennies were made, so it does not mark a coin as unusual. The Edward VII halfpenny has a matching 1902 low tide variety.