Suffragette-defaced penny
A History of the World in 100 Objects
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The Suffragete Coin
Suffragete coin stands for all those, not only in britain, but across the world, who fought for the universal right to vote. The campaign for womens suffrage had begun shortly after the great reform act of 18 32. This small penny takes us deeper into the now familiar story of women's suffrage. It was a big step beyond the posters, pamphlets, rallies and songs that till then had been the norm. Defacing a coin of the realm was an even more effective attack on the authority of a state which excluded women from political life as a campaigning strategy.
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