1 Penny - Elizabeth II 3rd portrait non-magnetic (1985–1992)

One row for each year the 1 Penny - Elizabeth II 3rd portrait – non-magnetic 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 1985 1 Penny - Elizabeth II – non-magnetic

The 1985 1 Penny - Elizabeth II – non-magnetic is a circulating 1 penny coin issued from 1985 to 1992, struck in bronze. It weighs 3.56g and measures 20.3mm across. Reverse design: Crowned portcullis with chains (an adaptation of the Badge of Henry VII which is now the Badge of the Palace of Westminster) with legend above and denomination below.

Mintage figures are recorded for 8 years between 1985 and 1992, 3,257,757,896 coins in all. 1992 is the scarcest date, with 78,421 struck.

Common questions

History and design

The 1p entered circulation on Decimal Day, 15 February 1971, as a bronze coin with Arnold Machin's portrait of the Queen. In 1985 Raphael Maklouf's portrait replaced it across the coinage, and the penny of 1985 to 1992 is the result: the same reverse and the same bronze, with a new head.

It was the last bronze penny struck for circulation. The Royal Mint states that rising world metal prices led to a change of composition in 1992, when the coin began to be struck in copper-plated steel. Bronze was used until September of that year.

These were years of very heavy production. The Royal Mint's figures run from 200,605,245 for 1985 to a peak of 793,492,000 for 1988, and the seven dates from 1985 to 1991 total 3,257,679,475. The Mint's 1992 figure, 253,867,000, is not divided by metal.

The reverse is Christopher Ironside's crowned portcullis with chains, used on the 1p from 1971 to 2008. It is an adaptation of the badge of Henry VII, now the badge of the Palace of Westminster. ONE PENNY is written above and the figure 1 below. The word NEW had been removed from the legend in 1982, three years before this type began.

Maklouf's portrait shows the Queen wearing the Diamond Diadem, and it remained on the 1p until 1997. The coin is bronze (97% copper, 2.5% zinc and 0.5% tin) with a plain edge.

Varieties and errors

Tony Clayton's reference records two versions of the portcullis reverse. On Die A the bolts where the bars cross are raised dots, and on Die B they are incuse circles. He lists every date up to 1990 as Die A, and for 1991 gives Die A as common and Die B as rarer.

Collecting notes

Bronze pennies remain legal tender and still circulate. A magnet separates this type from its successor: bronze is not attracted, copper-plated steel is. The Royal Mint also gives different thicknesses, 1.52mm for bronze and 1.65mm for plated steel, at the same weight.

The year that needs care is 1992. Clayton states that bronze pennies of that date are found only in the Mint sets and Proof sets of the year, so a 1992 coin from change should be the copper-plated steel type. The Machin portrait pennies of 1982 to 1984 are a separate type.