The bun penny is a bronze pre-decimal penny (1d) which was issued by the Royal Mint from 1860 to 1894. The designs of both obverse and reverse are by Leonard Charles Wyon. It was the first type of bronze penny issued by the Royal Mint, the incipient issue of a series which was to last until decimalisation in 1971. The bun penny gets its name from Queen Victoria's hairstyle, which is gathered together in a 'bun'.
The bun penny was common in circulation in the United Kingdom until the 1960s, and numerous varieties are known, some of which are of exceptional rarity. The series is one of the most commonly collected in the numismatics of the UK.
History The Coinage Act 1859 extended the Coinage Offences Act 1832, so far as it related to the then current copper coinage, to cover any coinage of mixed metal issued in replacement of such copper coinage.
Design
Die varieties
Collecting
Mintages
1860 ~ 5,053,440 1861 ~ 36,449,280 1862 ~ 50,534,400 1863 ~ 28,062,700 1864 ~ 3,440,640 1865 ~ 8,601,600 1866 ~ 9,999,360 1867 ~ 5,483,520 1868 ~ 1,182,720 1869 ~ 2,580,480 1870 ~ 5,695,022 1871 ~ 1,290,318 1872 ~ 8,494,572 1873 ~ 8,494,200 1874 ~ 5,621,865 1874H ~ 6,666,240 (Heaton Mint, Birmingham) 1875 ~ 10,691,040 1875H ~ 752,640 (Heaton Mint, Birmingham) 1876H ~ 11,074,560 (Heaton Mint, Birmingham) 1877 ~ 9,624,747 1878 ~ 2,764,470 1879 ~ 7,666,476 1880 ~ 3,000,831 1881 ~ 2,302,362 1881H ~ 3,763,200 (Heaton Mint, Birmingham) 1882H ~ 7,526,400 (Heaton Mint, Birmingham) 1883 ~ 6,327,438 1884 ~ 11,702,802 1885 ~ 7,145,862 1886 ~ 6,087,759 1887 ~ 5,315,085 1888 ~ 5,125,020 1889 ~ 12,559,737 1890 ~ 15,330,840 1891 ~ 17,885,961 1892 ~ 10,501,671 1893 ~ 8,161,737 1894 ~ 3,883,452
References