Cartwheel penny, 1797

The 1797 cartwheel penny was an official British copper coin produced by the industrialist Matthew Boulton at his Soho Mint in Birmingham under government contract. Throughout most of the eighteenth century, official pennies had been minted in silver and were rarely seen in general circulation, being struck primarily in small numbers for Maundy money or royal charity. By 1787, a chronic shortage of official coinage led merchants and mining companies to circulate their own private copper tokens. The British government addressed this currency deficiency in 1797 by authorising Boulton to strike official pennies and twopences.

This specification produced a coin substantially larger and heavier than any preceding silver penny. Boulton struck millions of these pieces over several years, though all examples produced in this series retained the date 1797. These heavy copper coins remained in circulation for decades, outlasting later, smaller copper issues until the entire copper series was replaced by lighter bronze coinage beginning in 1860. The piece acquired the nickname 'cartwheel' due to its large size and distinctively broad, thick raised rim. Unlike conventional coins with raised relief lettering, the inscriptions around the rim of the cartwheel penny were incuse, meaning the letters were punched directly into the metal. The obverse features the portrait of King George III, while the reverse depicts Britannia, the female personification of Britain.