As part of our Tales from the Rails event, Emma Sayer, Curator of Social History at the museum, highlights objects from the museum’s collection relating to this week’s theme of women’s suffrage.
This week, as part of our Tales from the Rails event, we’re focusing on the role that the railways played in women’s suffrage, so I wanted to share with you some interesting objects that we have in our collections which highlight the plight of the Suffragettes in the 1900s.
These two pennies are examples of what were then “coined” the Suffragette Penny.
The earlier of the two pennies is dated 1900 and bears an image of Queen Victoria on the obverse, or front, of the coin. Over the image of Queen Victoria, the words Votes for Women have been stamped on using metal punches and a hammer.
The later penny dates to 1903 and bears an image of King Edward VII. Again, the coin has the words Votes for Women stamped across the image of the king.
The defacing of coins in this way was a subtle form of protest used by Suffragettes in the early 1900s, in their plight to secure the vote. It was claimed in press reports of the time that the Suffragettes took inspiration from anarchists who would stamp coins with the words “Vive L’Anarchie”, but this was later questioned, arguing that whilst it did draw attention to the cause, it was never used as a major strategy by Suffragettes.
The penny itself was chosen partially because it was a low value coin and so not costly to deface, and also not practical for the Bank of England to withdraw from circulation. However, they were also chosen because of their size. At 3cm in diameter, the coins were large enough to be stamped efficiently and so people could clearly see the Suffragette’s message.
Although they were not taken out of circulation, often shop-keepers would refuse to accept them on the basis that they were defaced, and so this did limit the effectiveness of the coins as a tool with which to widely advertise the cause.
Defacing currency is of course illegal, but the Suffragettes were not averse to breaking the law if it meant getting their point across. The women’s suffrage movement had been peacefully lobbying for women’s rights since the mid-1800s. The Suffragists, led by Millicent Fawcett, head of the National Union for Women’s Suffrage Societies (NUWSS), were a movement of peaceful campaigners who used non-violent means to fight for women’s rights. They were founded in 1897 but had merged with organisations dating as far back as the 1860s.
Unlike the Suffragists, the Suffragettes, led by Emmeline Pankhurst and the Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU) founded in 1903, believed that more militant tactics, and violence where necessary, was needed in order to make progress with women’s suffrage.
It is believed that there are only 10 or 11 Suffragette Pennies in existence today, and that they all date to between 1913 and 1914 (although obviously the dates on the coins used differ in time periods).
Aside from their rarity, these two coins are a hugely important part of the museum’s collection as they represent not only the struggles faced by many women in the 1900s, but also their resilience and determination to fight for what they believed in, a better future for women.
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This summer we’re marking Rail 200 by exploring the importance of the railway throughout different time periods during Tales from the Rails. Each week we will be focusing on a different theme.
Visit this week (4th – 10th August) to be immersed in the campaign for Women’s Suffrage.
Next week, (11th – 17th August) to learn about the General Strike and the derailment of a train on the Flying Scotsman line.
Use your Beamish Unlimited Pass or Friends of Beamish membership to enjoy Tales from the Rails. Pay once and visit free for a year!