Cartwheel Pennies

[Guest Beamish]

Does anybody have any idea how long the 1797 'cartwheel' pennies / tuppences were in circulation for? I'm wondering if they were still in use around 1825, officially or otherwise?

[Chris Perkins 228]

A lot of them are pretty worn, so I'm sure they were. Possibly until 1869 (I think) when the Victorians collected in all the copper after replacing it with bronze.

[christoph 0]

Does anybody have any idea how long the 1797 'cartwheel' pennies / tuppences were in circulation for? I'm wondering if they were still in use around 1825, officially or otherwise?

One thing is for sure - the pennies were in actual circulation for many years more than than the twopences. The twopences almost never turn up so worn that the design is a flattened silhouette, whereas the pennies are often found like this.

The twopences were extremely unpopular, not surprising considering their weight. The total mintage for them is much lower than the pennies which were minted for several years, possibly near to 1806 when they were replaced.

It's likely that cartwheels were recalled by the Mint for their copper content, or else hoarded for same - the reason 1806 and later coins are smaller is that price of copper went up. There's a lot of copper in them thar cartwheels!

[tubandpud 0]

What does one do with half a dozen one penny Cartwheels which are so worn that only their size gives them away ??

It seems such a shame to just 'bin' them, knowing they have been around for so many years. At the moment they are

kept in an old cotton bag, along with a few other 'useless' sentimental old coins !!

[Geordie582 18]

Why not try this??? Here

[tubandpud 0]

Thanks Geordie, but NOOOOO - I couldn't - could I ??? You lot would be watching and I can guess what coments

would be flying around !!!

[Chris Perkins 228]

Use them as antique paperweights.

[Geordie582 18]

They make g reat washers!

[Levi_NI 0]

Give them to a kid and tell him/her the history, show them a pic of what it should look like, and also a few other coins of the age... would be a great starter present.

[tubandpud 0]

Thanks for suggestions. Also thought of sticking them together to make an unusual door-stop !

[Levi_NI 0]

Sell them on Ebay..give accurate and truthful description. If they sell, use the money to get yourself a nice wee coin.

[krasnaya_vityaz 0]

In Nicholas Holmes "Scottish Coins - A history of small Change in Scotland" he cites an 1857 study conducted in Birmingham, London, Manchester and Glasgow in which copper coinage was surveyed and counted. Nearly 25% of the pennies in circulation were the cartwheels of 1797. So nearly 60 years later Matthew Boultons wonders of the coin industrial age still had a viable impact on the British economy.