1937 British Penny Varieties
In 1937 two different obverse and reverse dies were used to strike British pence. The differences are slight and were probably made to improve the new obverse and reverse designs introduced that year.
Freeman labelled the obverses 1 and 2 and the reverses A and B (p64, Freeman, The Bronze Coinage of Great Britain (1860-1970), 2016).
| Die | Description |
|---|---|
| Obverse 1 | P of IMP at denticle |
| Obverse 2 | P of IMP to right of denticle |
| Reverse A | second stroke of second N of PENNY at denticle |
| Reverse B | second stroke of second N of PENNY between denticles |
Curiously, while there were two obverse and reverse dies used in 1937, the combination of 2+A is not known to exist, while combinations 1+A, 1+B and 2+B are all known and, while not equally common, are all very common. The exact date of discovery of the varieties is not clear but they have been known probably since the 1960s, and given that no 2+A has yet come to light in the many decades since then, it is unlikely that a 1937 2+A penny exists. More likely is that obverse 2 was created and introduced towards the end of production, well after all reverse A dies had been used up.
| Die pairing | Notes | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| 1+A | Common | Freeman 217 |
| 1+B | Common | Freeman 219 |
| 2+B | Common | Freeman 221 |
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