1 Penny - Elizabeth II 1st portrait without 'BRITT:OMN' (1954–1970)

One row for each year the 1 Penny - Elizabeth II 1st portrait – without 'BRITT:OMN' 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 1954 1 Penny - Elizabeth II – without 'BRITT:OMN'

The 1954 1 Penny - Elizabeth II – without 'BRITT:OMN' is a circulating 1 penny coin issued from 1954 to 1970, 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 with lighthouse to left, denomination above and date in exergue.

Mintage figures are recorded for 8 years between 1954 and 1967, 1,420,543,201 coins in all. 1954 is the scarcest date, with 1 struck. It is no longer legal tender (withdrawn 1971), so its value is to collectors only.

Common questions

History and design

Pennies were not needed for circulation in the early years of the reign. After the 1953 coronation set coins, the next date is 1954, but only as trial pieces: a few were struck to test the new dies and should have been melted, and Wikipedia and Tony Clayton record that a single example survives. Regular striking began again in 1961.

From then the penny was produced in very large numbers. Wikipedia's penny history, citing Lobel's catalogue, gives 48,313,400 for 1961 rising to 654,564,000 for 1967, a total of 1,420,543,200 across the seven dates. The Royal Mint Museum explains that to counter speculative hoarding before decimalisation, all new pre-decimal coins struck before Decimal Day kept the date 1967. A final proof issue dated 1970 bade farewell to the denomination.

The old penny did not last long after Decimal Day on 15 February 1971. It quickly vanished from use, and the transitional period ended on 31 August 1971, after which it was no longer legal tender.

The obverse carries Mary Gillick's portrait with the shortened legend ELIZABETH II DEI GRATIA REGINA F D. Clayton describes the 1954 redesign as giving all denominations a deeper cut portrait, matching the Royal Mint Museum's account of the Mint engraving Gillick's soft relief more deeply.

The reverse is the seated Britannia with shield and trident, ONE PENNY around and the date below, a figure Wikipedia credits to Leonard Charles Wyon after his father William Wyon. The lighthouse to her left was restored for Edward VIII and kept to the end. Clayton notes round beads at the rim in place of the teeth used under George VI. From 1961 the pennies were struck in the 97 percent copper alloy first used in wartime.

Collecting notes

The 1961 date has the lowest figure, while Clayton calls the 1962 to 1967 dates very common, especially 1967. The 1970 date exists only as a proof. Wikipedia notes that sculptor Christopher Ironside carried the penny's Britannia over to the decimal 50p.

No recognised varieties or mint errors are documented for the circulating dates beyond the unique 1954 trial piece. The one-year 1953 BRITT OMN penny has its own page.