1 Penny - George III 2nd Issue, 'Cartwheel'

Matthew Boulton lobbied the British government for years before finally winning the contract to produce a new copper coinage in 1797. The coins were struck at his Soho Mint in Birmingham using steam-powered presses designed by James Watt — the first application of steam power to coinage production at scale. Boulton's brief was blunt: make the copper content match the face value exactly, a direct response to decades of lightweight counterfeits flooding Britain's small-change economy.

The sheer mass required to meet that brief made the coins deeply unpopular in daily use. Shopkeepers complained; a pocket of pennies weighed nearly half a pound. Circulation was short, which is why so many survivors show minimal wear.