The Memorial Plaque was issued after the First World War (WWI) to the next-of-kin of all British and Empire service personnel who were killed.
The plaque 4.75 inches (120 mm) in diameter, were cast in bronze and came to be known as the “Dead Man’s Penny”, because of the similarity in appearance to the much smaller penny coin which itself had a diameter of only 1.215 inches (30.9 mm).
A total of 1,355,000 plaques were issued, and continued to be issued into the 1930s to commemorate soldiers who died as a consequence of the war.