Isle of Man 1 new penny 1971 - Ring-chain cross

The coin's story

The Isle of Man, a British Crown Dependency in the Irish Sea, adopted the decimal system in 1971, the same year as the United Kingdom, with its own series of coins. The new penny is worth one hundredth of a Manx pound, at par with the pound sterling. Like the whole series, its reverse was designed by Christopher Ironside: a cross formed of a ring chain, the typical motif of the Viking Borre style. This motif adorns the stone crosses carved on the island by Norse settlers in the 10th century, notably those of the sculptor Gaut, who signed his name in runes on a cross at Kirk Michael. The obverse bears Arnold Machin's portrait of Elizabeth II, the one used on British coins of the same period. In 1971, 100,000 pieces were struck for circulation, without a mint mark, and 10,000 in proof. From 1972, coins from the Pobjoy Mint bear the PM mark below the bust, and in 1976 the type was replaced by the “map of the island” series.