1 Penny - George VI with 'IND:IMP' (1937–1948)

One row for each year the 1 Penny - George VI with 'IND:IMP' 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 1937 1 Penny - George VI with 'IND:IMP'

The 1937 1 Penny - George VI with 'IND:IMP' is a circulating 1 penny coin issued from 1937 to 1948, 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 9 years between 1937 and 1948, 612,968,800 coins in all. 1940 is the scarcest date, with 42,284,400 struck. It is no longer legal tender (withdrawn 1971), so its value is to collectors only.

Common questions

History and design

George VI's bronze coins were made current by the proclamation of 18 March 1937. The halfpenny and farthing received new designs, but the penny kept Britannia, which the proclamation describes as seated on a rock surrounded by the sea, holding a shield and trident, with a lighthouse in the distance and the words ONE PENNY with the date.

Pennies were struck dated 1937 to 1940 and 1944 to 1948, nine dates totalling 613,468,800 in Coin Hunter's figures. 1938 was the largest at 121,560,000 and 1940 the smallest at 42,284,400. Tony Clayton and Wikipedia record that demand fell with the popularity of the new brass threepence, and pennies struck for the colonies in 1941 to 1943 all used the 1940 date. Wikipedia says these went mainly to Gibraltar and the British West Indies.

Tin was scarce in wartime, so pennies were made in a low-tin bronze of 97 percent copper, 0.5 percent tin and 2.5 percent zinc. It tarnished badly, and Clayton notes that the 1944 to 1946 coins were darkened artificially at the Mint.

The obverse is Thomas Humphrey Paget's bare-headed portrait of George VI facing left, with GEORGIVS VI D:G:BR:OMN:REX F:D:IND:IMP. around it. The Royal Mint Museum notes that Paget alone was asked to prepare the effigy after the abdication.

The reverse Britannia descends from Leonard Charles Wyon's design. Wikipedia explains that the lighthouse beside her, absent since 1895, was placed on Edward VIII's patterns and kept on the penny until its end. The edge is plain.

Varieties and errors

Clayton describes two 1937 reverses and two obverses, told apart by where the second N of PENNY and the upright of the P in IMP point against the rim teeth. During 1940 the exergue line changed from single to double.

Collecting notes

No date of this type is scarce. Look for the 1937 die pairings and the 1940 single and double exergue lines, and expect the darkened colour on 1944 to 1946 coins. The old penny ceased to be legal tender after 31 August 1971. From 1949 the penny without IND IMP took over.