The following quotations reveal the historical significance of the suffragette-defaced penny:
“Our Edward VII bronze penny was struck in the year of the formation of the Women’s Social and Political Union (the WSPU), whose founders included Emmeline Pankhurst . . .”
“The suffragettes became systematic lawbreakers in order to change the law, and defacing the penny was just one element in a campaign that went far beyond civil disobedience.”
“. . . the battle only really got going at the start of the twentieth century, when the suffragette movement was born . . .”