Question

Which quotations reveal the historical significance of the suffragette-defaced penny? Check all that apply.

“. . . the battle only really got going at the start of the twentieth century, when the suffragette movement
was born . . .”
“Defacing a coin of the realm is a more subtle crime – one with no evident victims . . .”
“The idea is incredibly clever, because it uses the potential that coinage has . . . to be widely circulated.”
“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.”

Answer 1

Selected: 2, 3, 4, 5.

- “Defacing a coin of the realm is a more subtle crime – one with no evident victims . . .” — explains why coin-defacement was a strategic, symbolic tactic.
- “The idea is incredibly clever, because it uses the potential that coinage has . . . to be widely circulated.” — shows the penny’s power as a mass-communicating medium, giving it historical significance.
- “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 . . .” — links the specific penny to the founding moment and key figures of the movement.
- “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.” — places penny-defacement within the broader, consequential tactics of the suffragette campaign.

Quotation 1 is general background about the movement’s timing and doesn’t specifically explain the penny’s historical significance.