1 Penny - Edward VI 3rd period, London mint

Edward VI's Third Coinage of 1551 marked a deliberate attempt at monetary rehabilitation after years of catastrophic debasement under Henry VIII, whose later issues had dropped silver fineness to embarrassing lows. The penny, however, was left in billon rather than restored to fine silver — a pragmatic concession to the cost of recalling and re-minting the enormous volume of debased coin still in circulation.

At 0.258 fineness, these pieces occupy an awkward transitional position in the Tudor monetary sequence, neither the disgraced product of the "Great Debasement" nor the restored sterling of Elizabeth's 1560 recoinage.