1983 1p Coin
The 1983 1p is a 1p coin struck for circulation with 243 million made. Value band: face value. Here is how to recognize it, what makes one worth more and what to check on yours.
- Year
- 1983
- Circulation mintage
- 243,002,000
- Value band
- Face value
- Composition
- Bronze (97% copper, 2.5% zinc, 0.5% tin)
Original illustration of the coin's shape and metal. Tap to flip. Not a picture of the actual design.
Face value · Small premium · Collector premium · Significant rarity. We use bands because prices change daily.
What is a 1983 1p worth?
243 million were made, so the 1983 1p is easy to find. A circulated one is worth face value; collectors pay a little more only for uncirculated coins and coins still in their original Royal Mint pack.
What would make yours worth more:
- Full original red or bright color
- A coin from a sets-only year
- A recognized variety or genuine error
For market prices, look at recent sold results for the same coin in the same condition, not asking prices.
Quick answers
- Is the 1983 1p rare?
- No. 243 million were made, so circulated examples are worth face value.
- How many 1983 1p coins were made?
- 243,002,000 were struck for circulation.
- What is the 1983 1p made of?
- Bronze (97% copper, 2.5% zinc, 0.5% tin). It weighs 3.56 g and measures 20.32 mm.
- Is the 1983 1p still legal tender?
- Yes. The 1p is legal tender, though 1p and 2p coins together only have to be accepted for payments up to 20p.
The 1983 1p coin in context
Search for 1983 coins and you will soon hit the story of the 2p struck with the old NEW PENCE wording. That error belongs to the 2p alone. A 1983 penny reading ONE PENNY is exactly what the Royal Mint meant to make and is the normal coin for the date. The confusion sends a lot of people digging through their pennies, so it helps to know the difference before you get excited. The penny's own story that year is about quantity rather than mistakes.
1983 was a busy year at the Royal Mint. The round pound coin entered circulation and the 2p was struck only for sets, so the penny did the heavy lifting in small change. Its mintage of 243,002,000 was well over double the 1982 total of 100,292,000. The next year output dropped again to 154,759,625. Arnold Machin's portrait was in its last two years on the penny, with Raphael Maklouf's effigy taking over in 1985. The half penny had just one date left, 1984, before it was withdrawn.
How to recognize it
This is the second year of the ONE PENNY wording. Christopher Ironside's crowned portcullis, chains hanging from its sides, sits under the words ONE PENNY with the numeral 1 beneath. Machin's portrait shows the Queen in a tiara, surrounded by ELIZABETH II D G REG F D and 1983. The coin is bronze, 97 percent copper with small amounts of zinc and tin, measuring 20.32 mm and weighing 3.56 g. It has a plain edge and will not react to a magnet. Bronze of this age tones to a chocolate brown over the years, so a dark coin is perfectly normal and shouldn't be cleaned.
The other side carries Arnold Machin's portrait of Queen Elizabeth II, used on UK coins from 1968 to 1984.
1983 1p by the numbers
By the numbers, the 1983 1p ranks 14th lowest of 51 1p dates and varieties from 1971 to 2023. The next scarcer is the 2017 1p (241 million); the next more common is the 1992 1p (253.9 million).
For scale, the most common is the 1971 1p with 1.52 billion, about 6.3 times as many. The scarcest is the 2023 1p with 600,000, 405 times fewer than this one.
Compared with the dates around it, the 1983 output was 2.4 times the 1982 figure and 1.6 times the 1984 figure.
Over the 1980s the Mint produced 3.74 billion pennies across 10 dates and varieties; the 1983 1p accounts for 6.5% of that.
What to check on your 1983 1p
- Confirm the date. Most dates are common, so the date and any variety decide whether a coin is worth setting aside.
- Try a magnet: bronze 1p coins do not stick to it. A coin that sticks is copper-plated steel from 1992 or later, so read the date again.
- Look at the surfaces under a light. Coins from sets have unbroken luster and color; change-worn coins are dull and scuffed.
- Never clean it. Rubbing or dipping strips the original color and leaves fine scratches.
Worn 1983 pennies are face value and very common. Uncirculated examples are easy to find in that year's Royal Mint sets, which are also the only place to find a 1983 2p. Look for coins with even red luster and no spots, since bronze in old sets can develop dark patches. If you are sorting a jar for the 2p error, put your 1983 pennies to one side as ordinary coins and concentrate on the 2p pieces. Natural toning is fine; harsh pink cleaning is not.
Bronze ONE PENNY (1982 to 1991)
In 1982 the word NEW was dropped from every British coin. Eleven years after Decimal Day nobody needed reminding that the money was different. The 20p that appeared that year never carried NEW at all. The penny's lettering was changed to ONE PENNY above the portcullis, with the numeral 1 still below. Nothing else about the design moved, so the wording is the fastest way to tell a 1970s penny from a 1980s one without even reading the date.
Portraits changed partway through this period. Arnold Machin's effigy stayed on the penny until 1984, the final date of the half penny. Raphael Maklouf's portrait, showing the Queen in a diadem, appeared on pennies from 1985 onward. The coin itself stayed exactly as it had been since 1971: bronze, 20.32 mm, 3.56 g, plain edge. Output swung widely through the decade, from 100,292,000 in 1982 to 793,492,000 in 1988, then dropped back to 206,457,600 in 1991, the last year of bronze pennies for circulation.
These are still bronze coins, so a magnet is a handy first check: a penny dated 1991 or earlier should ignore it. None of these dates is scarce in circulation and worn coins are face value. Collectors look for the turning points, 1982 for the new wording and 1985 for the new portrait. They also prize coins with original color. A properly red penny from the 1980s is harder to locate than most people expect. Watch out for coins that have been cleaned bright with polish or acid, which leaves a harsh, unnatural pink.
Mintage chart
Specifications
| Country | United Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Denomination | 1 penny |
| Issuer | Royal Mint |
| Year | 1983 |
| Circulation mintage | 243,002,000 |
| Composition | Bronze (97% copper, 2.5% zinc, 0.5% tin) |
| Weight | 3.56 g |
| Diameter | 20.32 mm |
| Shape | Round |
| Edge | Plain |
| Portrait | Machin |
Frequently asked questions
Is there a 1983 penny error like the 2p?
The well known 1983 error is a 2p carrying the old NEW PENCE wording. A 1983 penny reading ONE PENNY is the normal coin. Worn examples are face value, so there is no need to hold on to one unless you are building a date set.
How many 1983 pennies were made?
The Royal Mint struck 243,002,000 pennies dated 1983. That is more than twice the 1982 figure and well above the 154,759,625 of 1984, so it is a common date that you can still find in old jars of coppers.
Mintage figures: Penny (British decimal coin) (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0), compiled from Royal Mint figures. How we build these pages.