British Farthing coin - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

A farthing was a coin of England

Kingdom of England

The Kingdom of England was, from 927 to 1707, a sovereign state to the northwest of continental Europe. At its height, the Kingdom of England spanned the southern two-thirds of the island of Great Britain and several smaller outlying islands; what today comprises the legal jurisdiction of England...

, Great Britain

Kingdom of Great Britain

The former Kingdom of Great Britain, sometimes described as the 'United Kingdom of Great Britain', That the Two Kingdoms of Scotland and England, shall upon the 1st May next ensuing the date hereof, and forever after, be United into One Kingdom by the Name of GREAT BRITAIN. was a sovereign...

, and finally of the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

, worth one quarter of a penny

Penny (British pre-decimal coin)

The penny of the Kingdom of Great Britain and later of the United Kingdom, was in circulation from the early 18th century until February 1971, Decimal Day....

, 1/960th of a pound sterling

Pound sterling

The pound sterling , commonly called the pound, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence...

. Such coins were first minted in England in the 13th century, and continued to be used until 31 December 1960, when they ceased to be legal tender

Legal tender

Legal tender is a medium of payment allowed by law or recognized by a legal system to be valid for meeting a financial obligation. Paper currency is a common form of legal tender in many countries....

.

Early farthings were silver

Silver

Silver is a metallic chemical element with the chemical symbol Ag and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it has the highest electrical conductivity of any element and the highest thermal conductivity of any metal...

, but surviving examples are rare. The first copper farthings were issued during the reign of King James I

James I of England

James VI and I was King of Scots as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the English and Scottish crowns on 24 March 1603...

and VI, who gave a licence for minting to John Harington, 1st Baron Harington of Exton

John Harington, 1st Baron Harington of Exton

John Harington was an English courtier and politician.-Life:He was the son of James Harington and was knighted in 1584...

. Licences were subsequently given out until after the Commonwealth

Commonwealth of England

The Commonwealth of England was the republic which ruled first England, and then Ireland and Scotland from 1649 to 1660. Between 1653–1659 it was known as the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland...

, when the Royal Mint resumed production in 1672.

Early farthings

Little is known of the medieval silver

Silver

farthing, for few remain. As the smallest denomination, it was rarely hoard

Hoard

In archaeology, a hoard is a collection of valuable objects or artifacts, sometimes purposely buried in the ground. This would usually be with the intention of later recovery by the hoarder; hoarders sometimes died before retrieving the hoard, and these surviving hoards may be uncovered by...

ed silver farthings have never been found in large hoards and as it contained a quarter-penny's worth of silver it was also extremely small, and therefore easily lost. Besides, farthings were not produced in anything like the quantities of the penny

Penny

A penny is a coin or a type of currency used in several English-speaking countries. It is often the smallest denomination within a currency system.-Etymology:...

and halfpenny because, although they were useful to ordinary people, they were not so much used by the wealthy and powerful; and because, for the moneyers, they yielded the least profit of any denomination. Furthermore, the coin

Coin

A coin is a piece of hard material that is standardized in weight, is produced in large quantities in order to facilitate trade, and primarily can be used as a legal tender token for commerce in the designated country, region, or territory....

s are so small that few metal detector

Metal detector

A metal detector is a device which responds to metal that may not be readily apparent.The simplest form of a metal detector consists of an oscillator producing an alternating current that passes through a coil producing an alternating magnetic field...

s can find them. Consequently they are rare

Rarity

Rarity can refer to:* something that is rare or scarcePeople, including:*John Rarity, English physicistFictional characters, including:*Rarity , a character from My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic...

today.

Until the 13th century, requirements for small change were often met by "cut coinage" i.e., pennies cut into halves or quarters, usually along the cross which formed a prominent part of the reverse of the coin. It was long considered that the first silver farthings were produced in the reign of King Edward I

Edward I of England

Edward I , also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots, was King of England from 1272 to 1307. The first son of Henry III, Edward was involved early in the political intrigues of his father's reign, which included an outright rebellion by the English barons...

(1272–1307). However in recent years five examples have been discovered dating from the reign of King Henry III

Henry III of England

Henry III was the son and successor of John as King of England, reigning for 56 years from 1216 until his death. His contemporaries knew him as Henry of Winchester. He was the first child king in England since the reign of Æthelred the Unready...

(1216–1272). All are in the short-cross style of that period, produced between 1216 and 1247, and are similar in design to the pennies, but only a quarter the size. Due to the lack of known examples and documentary evidence, these coins are thought to be trials rather than circulating

Circulation (currency)

The social system in which we live has usually developed to the stage for money to be used as the medium for the exchange of goods and services. Hence the money is an important aspect of the general social or macroeconomics system...

coins. The production of farthings was authorised by the Patent Rolls

Patent Rolls

The Patent Rolls are primary sources for English history, a record of the King of England's correspondence, starting in 1202....

of 1222, but actual examples have only recently been discovered. The obverse shows a bust of the king holding a sceptre

Sceptre

A sceptre is a symbolic ornamental rod or wand borne in the hand by a ruling monarch as an item of royal or imperial insignia.-Antiquity:...

, with the inscription HENRICUS REX, while the reverse shows a small cross with three pellets in each quarter with the moneyer's

Moneyer

A moneyer is someone who physically creates money. Moneyers have a long tradition, dating back at least to ancient Greece. They became most prominent in the Roman Republic, continuing into the empire.-Roman Republican moneyers:...

inscription TERRI (or ILGER or (?)ADAM) ON LUND Terry (or Ilger or Adam) of London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

only two examples of Terri's and Ilger's work have been discovered, and the identification of Adam is uncertain because only part of his coin has survived.

Edwardian and Henrician farthings

Contemporary records show that over four million farthings were produced during the reign of King Edward I

Edward I of England

, (1272–1307), but comparatively few have survived. By far the most prolific mint was London, identified on the reverse of the coin by LONDONIENSIS or CIVITAS LONDON or very rarely LONDRIENSIS, but they were also produced at Berwick (VILLA BEREVVICI), Bristol (VILLA BRISTOLLIE), Lincoln (CIVITAS LINCOL), Newcastle (NOVICASTRI), and York (CIVITAS EBORACI), but most of the provincial mints' output is rare today. The weight and fineness of Edwards' farthings varies - the first three issues from the London mint weigh 6.85 grains / 0.44 grams, while the later issues weigh 5.5 grains / 0.36 grams, but the value of the coins remained the same as the heavier coins had a lower fineness or silver content than the lighter coins; it is thought that the coins were made larger in order to make them easier to strike and handle, but coins of low fineness have never been popular in England and the population preferred the inconvenience of a smaller coin with higher silver content. Edward's farthings were of the long cross type reverse, and the usual legend on the obverse was EDWARDUS REX (King Edward), or occasionally E R ANGLIE (Edward King of England), and once ER ANGL DN (Edward King of England Lord (of Ireland)).

Only two mints, London and Berwick, produced farthings in the reign of King Edward II

Edward II of England

Edward II , called Edward of Caernarfon, was King of England from 1307 until he was deposed by his wife Isabella in January 1327. He was the sixth Plantagenet king, in a line that began with the reign of Henry II...

(1307–1327), and their output is classed as "rare" and "very rare" respectively. They are very similar to the coins of his father, and in fact the combination of their rarity and poor condition means that there has not been much research done into the farthings of this reign, although it does seem that for much of the reign farthings of Edward I continued to be produced occasionally.

Edward III's

Edward III of England

Edward III was King of England from 1327 until his death and is noted for his military success. Restoring royal authority after the disastrous reign of his father, Edward II, Edward III went on to transform the Kingdom of England into one of the most formidable military powers in Europe...

farthings (1327–1377), though fairly similar to his predecessors, are fairly easy to distinguish as the more common inscription on the obverse was EDWARDUS REX A (Edward King of England). Three mints produced farthings in this reign: London is most prolific, Berwick is rare, and only three examples are known of the output of the Reading mint (VILLA RADINGY). Edward III's farthings remain fairly rare. Although the normal fineness of silver used at this time was .925 (i.e. sterling silver), for the second coinage of 1335–1343 the London mint produced larger farthings of .833 silver.

King Richard II's

Richard II of England

Richard II was King of England, a member of the House of Plantagenet and the last of its main-line kings. He ruled from 1377 until he was deposed in 1399. Richard was a son of Edward, the Black Prince, and was born during the reign of his grandfather, Edward III...

farthings (1377–1399) are rare in any condition. They were all struck at the London mint and bear the inscription RICARD REX ANGL (Richard King of England).

Henry IV

Henry IV of England

Henry IV was King of England and Lord of Ireland . He was the ninth King of England of the House of Plantagenet and also asserted his grandfather's claim to the title King of France. He was born at Bolingbroke Castle in Lincolnshire, hence his other name, Henry Bolingbroke...

issued farthings in both the "heavy" (pre 1412) and "light" (1412–13) coinages (20% lighter), although allowing for the prevalence of clipping it is quite difficult to distinguish between the two coinages at the size of the farthing. Both issues are rare and carry the obverse inscription HENRIC REX ANGL and the reverse inscription CIVITAS LONDON, although on the light coinage it appears as CIVITAS LOIDOI.

Henry V's

Henry V of England

Henry V was King of England from 1413 until his death at the age of 35 in 1422. He was the second monarch belonging to the House of Lancaster....

single issue of farthings (1413–1422) is distinguishable from those of his father because his effigy shows his neck, but is more difficult to distinguish from those of Henry VI

Henry VI of England

Henry VI was King of England from 1422 to 1461 and again from 1470 to 1471, and disputed King of France from 1422 to 1453. Until 1437, his realm was governed by regents. Contemporaneous accounts described him as peaceful and pious, not suited for the violent dynastic civil wars, known as the Wars...

's first reign (1422–1461). Farthings of Henry V and Henry VI were produced in London and Calais

Calais

Calais is a town in Northern France in the department of Pas-de-Calais, of which it is a sub-prefecture. Although Calais is by far the largest city in Pas-de-Calais, the department's capital is its third-largest city of Arras....

(VILLA CALIS), though Henry V Calais farthings are extremely rare.

The first reign of King Edward IV

Edward IV of England

Edward IV was King of England from 4 March 1461 until 3 October 1470, and again from 11 April 1471 until his death. He was the first Yorkist King of England...

(1461–1470) featured both a heavy coinage (before 1464), with the obverse inscription EDWARD REX ANGLI, and a light coinage inscribed EDWARD DI GRA REX, but they are all extremely rare and weight cannot be used to distinguish between the two issues because of wear, clipping, etc.

No farthings were produced during the second reigns of Henry VI and Edward IV, or during the brief reign of Edward V.

One exceedingly rare type of farthing was minted during the reign of Richard III

Richard III of England

Richard III was King of England for two years, from 1483 until his death in 1485 during the Battle of Bosworth Field. He was the last king of the House of York and the last of the Plantagenet dynasty...

(1483–1485). The obverse legend around the king's bust is RICAR DI GRA REX.

Only one very rare type of farthing was issued during the reign of King Henry VII

Henry VII of England

Henry VII was King of England and Lord of Ireland from his seizing the crown on 22 August 1485 until his death on 21 April 1509, as the first monarch of the House of Tudor....

(1485–1509), struck at the London mint. It has the unique inscription HENRIC DI GRA REX around the king's bust to distinguish it from the coins of the earlier Henries.

King Henry VIII

Henry VIII of England

Henry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was Lord, and later King, of Ireland, as well as continuing the nominal claim by the English monarchs to the Kingdom of France...

(1509–1547) issued farthings struck at the London mint, in all three of his coinages, although they are all extremely rare. The obverse of the first coinage (1509–1526) has the inscription HENRIC DI GRA REX around a portcullis; while the second coinage (1526–1544) has the legend RUTILANS ROSA a dazzling rose around the portcullis, and the reverse has the legend DEO GRACIAS around a long cross. Farthings of the second coinage were also struck at Canterbury (distinguished by a Catherine Wheel mintmark). The third coinage (1544–1547) was produced in base silver and has the legend h D G RUTIL ROSA around a rose, and the reverse legend DEO GRACIAS around a long cross with one pellet in each quarter.

A base silver farthing was issued by King Edward VI

Edward VI of England

Edward VI was the King of England and Ireland from 28 January 1547 until his death. He was crowned on 20 February at the age of nine. The son of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour, Edward was the third monarch of the Tudor dynasty and England's first monarch who was raised as a Protestant...

(1547–1553) with the inscription E D G ROSA SINE SPI around the portcullis on the obverse. This coin is also extremely rare.

No farthings were produced in the reigns of Queen Mary, Philip and Mary, or Queen Elizabeth I, mainly due to the fact that the silver farthing had simply become too small to be struck, following successive reductions in the weight of silver in the coin, and far too easy to lose.

Base-metal farthings

It was during the reign of King James I

James I of England

James VI and I was King of Scots as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the English and Scottish crowns on 24 March 1603...

(1603–1625) that copper coinage was introduced. From his previous experience as King of Scotland James realised that small denomination copper

Copper

Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu and atomic number 29. It is a ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. Pure copper is soft and malleable; an exposed surface has a reddish-orange tarnish...

coins would be acceptable, as they had been in use in Scotland and on the European mainland for some time. However the English seemed to have an obsession with gold and silver, requiring that coins had their proper values' worth of metal. James decided not to have the copper coinage produced by the Royal Mint, but instead put the production of farthings into the hands of John Harington, 1st Baron Harington of Exton

John Harington, 1st Baron Harington of Exton

John Harington was an English courtier and politician.-Life:He was the son of James Harington and was knighted in 1584...

Licensed farthings

The Haringtons

Harington was heavily charged for the privilege of minting the farthings, but also made a healthy profit on the deal. Unlike the larger coins, farthings did not contain their value in metal. He died in 1613 and the right to produce farthings passed to his son, who also died a few months later, then back to Harington's wife Anne.
The Harington issues originally had a surface of tin

Tin

Tin is a chemical element with the symbol Sn and atomic number 50. It is a main group metal in group 14 of the periodic table. Tin shows chemical similarity to both neighboring group 14 elements, germanium and lead and has two possible oxidation states, +2 and the slightly more stable +4...

which served to make counterfeiting more difficult and to make the coins look more like silver and therefore more acceptable. The coins were produced on blanks of 12.25 millimetres diameter. The obverse shows two sceptres through a crown, and the legend IACO DG MAG BRIT — James, by the grace of God, of Great Britain — while the reverse shows a crowned harp and the continuing inscription FRA ET HIB REX — France and Ireland, King.

The Lennoxes

Lady Harington either sold or gave the privilege of minting farthings to Ludovic Stewart, 2nd Duke of Lennox

Ludovic Stewart, 2nd Duke of Lennox

Ludovic Stewart, 2nd Duke of Lennox and 1st Duke of Richmond was a Scottish nobleman and politician. He was the son of Esmé Stewart, 1st Duke of Lennox and his wife Catherine de Balsac. Stewart was involved in the Plantation of Ulster in Ireland and the colonization of Maine in New England...

. The Lennox issues are larger than the Haringtons. The Lennox issues were all produced on 15 millimetre diameter blanks, with no tin surface. They can be distinguished from the Haringtons by looking at the inscription on the obverse — on the Lennoxes the inscription starts at the top or bottom of the coin, while on the Haringtons it starts before the top of the coin.

Richmonds

During the reign of Charles I

Charles I of England

Charles I was King of England, King of Scotland, and King of Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. Charles engaged in a struggle for power with the Parliament of England, attempting to obtain royal revenue whilst Parliament sought to curb his Royal prerogative which Charles...

, (1625–1649), farthings continued to be produced under the king's licence. In 1623 the Duke of Lennox had also become Duke of Richmond, but died a few months later. The farthing patent passed to his widow, Frances Stewart, Duchess of Richmond and Lennox

Frances Stewart, Duchess of Richmond and Lennox

Frances Teresa Stewart, Duchess of Richmond and Lennox was a prominent member of the Court of the Restoration and famous for refusing to become a mistress of Charles II...

and Sir Francis Crane. The first issues of Charles I are consequently called Richmonds. The obverse shows two sceptres through a crown, and the legend CARO DG MAG BRIT — Charles, by the grace of God, of Great Britain — while the reverse shows a crowned harp and the continuing inscription FRA ET HIB REX — France and Ireland, King.

Maltravers

In 1634 another farthing patent was issued, to Lord Maltravers (Henry Howard)

Henry Howard, 22nd Earl of Arundel

Henry Frederick Howard, 22nd Earl of Arundel, PC was an English noble and the second son of Thomas Howard, 21st Earl of Arundel and Lady Alethea Talbot, later 13th Baroness Furnivall...

, and Sir Francis Crane, their issues being known as Maltravers. During this time there were vast numbers of forged farthings in circulation and the situation became unacceptable as the poor felt conned and unfairly treated by the authorities. The obverse shows two sceptres through a crown, and the legend CAROLVS DG MAG BR — Charles, by the grace of God, of Great Britain — while the reverse shows a crowned harp and the continuing inscription FRAN ET HIB REX — France and Ireland, King. These issues have inner circles on both sides of the coin, between the legend and the design element.

Rose farthing

Consequently, Lord Maltravers was asked to introduce a new style denomination which came to be called the Rose farthing — it was much smaller and thicker than the Maltravers, but the revolutionary development was the metal and construction of the coin; most of the coin was copper, but a small "plug" of brass

Brass

Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc; the proportions of zinc and copper can be varied to create a range of brasses with varying properties.In comparison, bronze is principally an alloy of copper and tin...

was inserted into part of the coin. This made the Rose farthing an early example of a bimetallic coin and also almost impossible to counterfeit, and the production of forgeries soon ended. The obverse shows two sceptres through a crown, and the legend CAROLVS DG MAG BRIT — Charles, by the grace of God, of Great Britain — while the reverse shows a double rose and the continuing inscription FRAN ET HIB REX — France and Ireland, King. These issues have inner circles on both sides of the coin, between the legend and the design element.

Post-Commonwealth

Under the Commonwealth of England

Commonwealth of England

no farthings were issued by the government, although huge quantities of private tokens were issued in this period by small traders or towns to satisfy demand.

In the early years of the reign of King Charles II

Charles II of England

Charles II was monarch of the three kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland.Charles II's father, King Charles I, was executed at Whitehall on 30 January 1649, at the climax of the English Civil War...

(1660–1685) there was a clear need for low denomination coins to fund day-to-day purchases, witnessed by the large number of farthing tokens in circulation in the 1660s. The Mint was not ready to produce copper coins using the new machine presses until 1672, when a Royal Proclamation in August 1672 decreed that halfpennies and farthings would be issued, and that they would have a face value equal to the value of the metal less the cost of producing them. The new coins were legal tender up to a total value of six pence, and depicted Britannia

Britannia

Britannia is an ancient term for Great Britain, and also a female personification of the island. The name is Latin, and derives from the Greek form Prettanike or Brettaniai, which originally designated a collection of islands with individual names, including Albion or Great Britain. However, by the...

(modelled by the Duchess of Richmond) on the reverse. It was soon discovered that the Mint was incapable of producing the copper blanks needed for the new coins, and these eventually were imported from Sweden.

The copper farthings were produced in 1672–1675 and 1679, weighed 5.2 - 6.4 grams, and had a diameter of 22–23 millimetres. The obverse had a left-facing bust of the king, with the inscription CAROLVS A CAROLO — Charles, son of Charles — while the reverse showed the left-facing seated Britannia, with the inscription BRITANNIA and the date in the exergue beneath Britannia.

Tin farthings

In 1684 and 1685 farthings made of tin with a small central copper plug were produced they weighed 5.4–6.0 grams and had a diameter of 23–24 millimetres, and had the same inscriptions as the copper farthings. Very few 1685 farthings were produced because the king died on 8 February 1684, in the Old-Style calendar (i.e. when 24 March 1684 would be followed by 25 March 1685, New Year's Day). The tin farthings had an inscription NVMMORVM FAMVLVS a subsidiary coinage plus the date on the edge rather than on the reverse.

For the reign of king James II

James II of England

James II & VII was King of England and King of Ireland as James II and King of Scotland as James VII, from 6 February 1685. He was the last Catholic monarch to reign over the Kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland...

, the copper-plugged tin farthings continued to be produced, with examples dated in all years between 1684 and 1687. The obverse had a right-facing bust of the king, with the inscription IACOBVS SECVNDVS James the Second — while the reverse showed the left-facing seated Britannia, with the inscription BRITANNIA, and the inscription NVMMORVM FAMVLVS and the date on the edge of the coin.

Tin farthings continued to be produced for the first few years of the joint reign of William and Mary

William and Mary

The phrase William and Mary usually refers to the coregency over the Kingdoms of England, Scotland and Ireland, of King William III & II and Queen Mary II...

, being dated 1689–1692, but the coins were rapidly becoming unpopular as the problems of the corrosion of tin became apparent. In 1693 and 1694 copper farthings were produced again, weighing 4.7–6.2 grams and with a diameter of 22–25 millimetres. In both issues, the obverse shows the conjoined heads of the co-monarchs, with the inscription GVLIELMVS ET MARIA.

Following the death of Queen Mary in 1694, the production of coins continued under the same contract as before, with farthings of King William III

William III of England

William III & II was a sovereign Prince of Orange of the House of Orange-Nassau by birth. From 1672 he governed as Stadtholder William III of Orange over Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, and Overijssel of the Dutch Republic. From 1689 he reigned as William III over England and Ireland...

being produced for all years between 1695 and 1700. However it soon became apparent that the manufacturers were economising on expenses cheap labour was being used, including foreigners some of whom could not spell the king's name which they were engraving on the dies. By 1698 there was a glut of copper coinage and an Act was passed to stop the coining for one year; this seems to have had little effect and the proliferation continued. There were further Parliamentary attempts to control the glut of coinage later.

Farthings of Anne and of the kings of the House of Hanover

Thanks to the glut of the previous reign, there was no need to produce any copper farthings in the reign of Queen Anne (1701–1714) until the very last year of her reign. If the queen had not died in that year, there is no doubt that the 1714 farthing, weighing 4.8–5.8 grams and of 21–22 millimetres diameter, would have entered circulation in quantity, but its actual status is in some doubt as it may be considered a pattern

Pattern coin

A pattern coin is a coin which has not been approved for release, produced for the purpose of evaluating a proposed coin design. They are often off-metal strikes, to proof standard or piedforts...

. Sir Isaac Newton was Master of the Mint, and he had high ideals about the quality of the coinage, and the Anne farthing is certainly vastly superior in striking and design to the pieces of William III. The old figure of Britannia used since Charles II's time was discarded in favour of a sharper high relief design in which the bare leg on the former figure of Britannia is covered up, reportedly on the orders of the Queen. Around 1802 a curious rumour swept Britain to the effect that the Queen Anne farthing was worth a fortune, no less than £500, and advertisements appeared in many newspapers offering specimens for sale; in March 1802 one specimen was sold at auction in London for no less than 750 guineas (£787/10/-).

The death of Queen Anne thwarted attempts to issue her farthing, but the need for a copper coinage was no less after the accession of King George I (1714–1727). The price of copper had risen, so the new farthings were lighter than the previous issue, at 4.5–5.3 grams. The farthings struck in 1717 looked slightly odd as they were smaller, and thicker than the previous issues, with a diameter of 20–21 millimetres, and they are known as dump farthings. Farthings of 1719–1724 are slightly larger, at 22–23 millimetres, but are of the same weight. Unfortunately both issues suffered somewhat from manufacturing problems, as the dies were in bold relief and it was difficult to apply enough pressure to the blanks to make a good impression. The coin features the right-facing head of King George and the inscription GEORGIVS REX on the obverse, and Britannia with the inscription BRITANNIA and the date in the exergue beneath Britannia.

George II's (1727–1760) farthings were minted in quantity in 1730–1737, 1739, 1741, 1744, 1746, 1749, 1750, and 1754 (though the 1754 coin is known to have still been being minted at least until 1763), but to them must be added a huge range of counterfeits (and pieces similar to counterfeits but with markedly different legends from the real coins, so that the manufacturers could avoid accusations of counterfeiting). Many genuine coins were melted down and underweight fabrications produced from the molten metal. The farthings weighed 4.5–5.3 grams and had a diameter of 22–23 millimetres. The obverse showed the left-facing head of King George and the inscription GEORGIVS II REX on the obverse, and Britannia with the inscription BRITANNIA and the date in the exergue beneath Britannia.

In the reign of King George III

George III of the United Kingdom

George III was King of Great Britain and King of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of these two countries on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland until his death...

(1760–1820) apart from the "posthumous" George II coins previously mentioned, the first issue of farthings did not come until 1771. Counterfeiting was rampant, and making the production of counterfeit copper coins a felony in 1771 had little effect and for the next twenty years or so the majority of copper so-called coins in circulation were forgeries. Matthew Boulton

Matthew Boulton

Matthew Boulton, FRS was an English manufacturer and business partner of Scottish engineer James Watt. In the final quarter of the 18th century the partnership installed hundreds of Boulton & Watt steam engines, which were a great advance on the state of the art, making possible the...

's contract in 1797 to produce the Cartwheel pennies and twopences, thwarting the counterfeiters, did not extend to producing the farthing, though Boulton had expected that it would and had prepared several patterns of the appropriate size and weight in accordance with his ideas on the intrinsic value of copper coins. However Boulton was given a licence to produce farthings in 1799. In the meantime the price of copper had risen, and consequently the weight of the coins was reduced slightly compared to the cartwheel design, and the 1799 farthing had a more conventional appearance, although two aspects of the coin were far from conventional: the reverse bore the legend 1 FARTHING, the first time the name of a denomination had ever appeared on an English coin, and it was also the first British coin to have the date on the same side as the king's head. In 1806–1807 a further 22.5 tons of copper was struck into farthings by Boulton, but the price of copper had risen again and the weight was even less than the 1799 issue.

George III farthings were produced in three distinct phases:-

1771, 1773–1775 (all years). Weight 4.3–5.3 grams, diameter 23–24 millimetres. Obverse shows a right-facing bust of the king, with the inscription GEORGIVS III REX, reverse shows a left-facing seated Britannia holding a spray and spear, with the inscription BRITANNIA and the date in the exergue beneath Britannia.
1799. Weight 5.8–6.6 grams, diameter 23–24 millimetres. Obverse shows a right-facing bust of the king, with the inscription GEORGIVS III DEI GRATIA REX 1799, reverse shows a redesigned left-facing seated Britannia holding a spray and spear, with the inscription BRITANNIA 1 FARTHING.
1806–1807. Weight 4.7–4.8 grams, diameter 21–22 millimetres. Obverse shows a right-facing bust of the king, with the inscription GEORGIVS III D G REX date, reverse shows a slightly different left-facing seated Britannia holding a spray and spear, with the inscription BRITANNIA.

After the mint moved from the Tower of London to Tower Hill the production of gold and silver coins took precedence over copper in the Great Recoinage of 1816
Great Recoinage of 1816
The Great Recoinage of 1816 was an attempt by the British Government to re-stabilise the currency of Great Britain following economic difficulties precipitated by the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars.-History:...

. The production of copper coins did not resume until the reign of King George IV

George IV of the United Kingdom

George IV was the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and also of Hanover from the death of his father, George III, on 29 January 1820 until his own death ten years later...

(1820–1830), when farthings were produced in 1821. Benedetto Pistrucci

Benedetto Pistrucci

Benedetto Pistrucci was a distinguished Italian Gem-engraver, medallist and coin-engraver who became Chief-medallist at the Royal Mint in England.-Early life, training and career:...

was employed as a designer and engraver at the mint, and unfortunately for the farthing it was his job to engrave the designs for the new coinage, and he produced a spectacularly ugly portrait of the king, with a bulging face and neck. It is not difficult to see why the king was displeased with his portrait, and Pistrucci's treatment of Britannia on the obverse was not much better, with Britannia now facing right for the first time ever. Pistrucci was downgraded for refusing to copy another artist's work, and William Wyon

William Wyon

William Wyon, RA , was official chief engraver at the Royal Mint from 1828 until his death. He was influenced by the master of relief sculpture, John Flaxman. Wyon was a highly visible proponent of the Neoclassicist vogue, and was elected to the Royal Academy in 1838.Wyon was born in Birmingham,...

was given the task of producing a better farthing, with the more flattering "bare head" type of 1826; however Wyon did not discard all Pistrucci's ideas, Britannia still faced right on the reverse. The George IV farthing was produced in two types, between 1821 and 1823, 1825, and 1826 it weighed 4.5–4.8 grams, with a diameter of 22 millimetres, and from 1826–1830 it weighed 4.6–4.9 grams with a diameter of 22 millimetres. Both Pistrucci's and Wyon's designs were produced in 1826. The Pistrucci obverse shows a left-facing bust of King George IV with the inscription GEORGIUS IIII DEI GRATIA, while the reverse shows a right-facing helmeted Britannia seated to the left of the coin, with a shield and trident, with the inscription BRITANNIAE REX FID DEF and the date in the exergue underneath Britannia. The Wyon obverse shows a left-facing laureated bust of King George IV with the inscription GEORGIUS IV DEI GRATIA date, while the reverse shows a right-facing centrally-seated helmeted Britannia with a shield and trident, with the inscription BRITANNIAE REX FID DEF. Wyon's preference was to put the date under the king's bust, and to put the rose, thistle, and shamrock in the exergue underneath Britannia.

The William IV

William IV of the United Kingdom

William IV was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and of Hanover from 26 June 1830 until his death...

(1830–1837) farthing, produced in 1831, and 1834–1837, continues the George IV design but with a right-facing bust of the new king, with the inscription GULIELMUS IIII DEI GRATIA date, while the reverse is identical to the previous reigns' Wyon design.

Victorian farthings

The farthings of Queen Victoria's long reign (1837–1901) can be basically divided into the copper issue of 1838–1860, where the coins were 4.5–4.9 grams in weight and 22 millimetres in diameter, and which were very similar to the farthings of her two predecessors (with the obvious substitution of REG for REX on the reverse), and the bronze issue of 1860–1901 (which itself is split between 1894 and 1895 into coins displaying the "young head" and the "old head" of the Queen) (although strangely a copper farthing was produced in 1864 as well as the normal bronze coin: this is extremely valuable). The bronze coins weighed 2.8–3.0 grams, were 20 millimetres in diameter, and the metal content was 95% copper, 4% tin, 1% zinc. The bronze coins also featured the denomination FARTHING on the reverse, with the date in the exergue beneath Britannia. The inscription on the obverse of the "young head" coins reads VICTORIA D G BRITT REG F D, while on the "old head" it is VICTORIA DEI GRA BRITT REGINA FID DEF IND IMP (Victoria, by the grace of God Queen of Britain, defender of the faith, Empress of India). Some 1874–1876 and 1881–1882 farthings have an "H" mintmark underneath the date, indicating that they were produced at the Heaton mint

Birmingham Mint

The Birmingham Mint, a coining mint, originally known as Heaton's Mint or Ralph Heaton & Sons, in Birmingham, England started producing tokens and coins in 1850 as a private enterprise, separate from, but in cooperation with the Royal Mint. Its factory was situated in Icknield Street , on the edge...

in Birmingham.

Farthings were produced in all years of Victoria's reign except 1837, 1870, 1871, and 1889. Starting in 1897, farthings were issued in an artificially toned state so that they would not be confused with the half-sovereign coin. It is thought that the reason there is an unbroken series of copper farthings between 1838 and 1860 is because the same dies were used to produce the obverses of both the gold sovereign and the farthing this would account for the high frequency of defects in the coin series as presumably the dies would have been used first to produce the gold coins, and defects may have appeared in them before they were used on the farthing.

There were also fractional farthings. The first of the fractional farthings to be issued was the third-farthing, which throughout the period of issue from 1827 to 1913 was minted solely for use in Malta. The island used British coins, but the grano, dating from before British rule, was valued at a twelfth of a penny. As a result the decision was made to coin the equivalent in a British denomination. Half-farthings and even quarter farthings were also issued for colonial use. From 1844 to 1869 the half farthing was legal tender in Britain. The coin was much derided by press and public and was withdrawn in 1869. It must be noted however that the value of a half farthing in 1844, in 2010 values, can be estimated at approximately £0.05 (5p).

Post-1901 farthings

Farthings weighing 2.7–2.9 grams and of 20 millimetres diameter (which was to remain the standard size of the coin for the remainder of its existence) were minted in all years of Edward VII

Edward VII of the United Kingdom

Edward VII was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910...

's reign (1901–1910) except 1901. They are similar to the last issues of Queen Victoria except for the king's right-facing bust on the obverse, with the inscription EDWARDVS VII DEI GRA BRITT OMN REX FID DEF IND IMP, and also are extremely reminiscent of the contemporary penny and halfpenny. These farthings were issued in an artificially toned state so that they would not be confused with the half-sovereign coin. The last half-farthing coin was a "coronation model" of King Edward VII in 1902.
The reign of King George V

George V of the United Kingdom

George V was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 through the First World War until his death in 1936....

produced farthings to a basically unchanged design every year between 1911 and 1936. The obverse shows a left-facing portrait of the king by Sir Bertram Mackennal, with the inscription GEORGIVS V DEI GRA BRITT OMN REX FID DEF IND IMP, and the usual right-facing Britannia on the reverse. Unlike some of the pennies of this reign, no farthings have mintmarks from provincial mints. Until 1917, farthings were issued in an artificially toned state so that they would not be confused with the half-sovereign coin, but by the end of the war half-sovereigns were no longer being struck. The content of the bronze used in the farthing was changed in 1923 to 95.5% copper, 3% tin and 1.5% zinc, although the weight of the coin remained 2.8–2.9 grams and the diameter was 20 millimetres.

The Edward VIII

Edward VIII of the United Kingdom

Edward VIII was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth, and Emperor of India, from 20 January to 11 December 1936.Before his accession to the throne, Edward was Prince of Wales and Duke of Cornwall and Rothesay...

farthing is a pattern which was awaiting royal approval at the time of the abdication in December 1936. The king insisted that his left profile be used on the coinage instead of the right which would have been used if he had followed the alternating tradition going back to Charles II; the obverse has the inscription EDWARDVS VIII D G BR OMN REX F D IND IMP, but in a complete break from tradition Britannia was dropped from the reverse for the first time since 1672, and replaced by one of Britain's smallest birds, the wren

Wren

The wrens are passerine birds in the mainly New World family Troglodytidae. There are approximately 80 species of true wrens in approximately 20 genera....

. This reverse remained in use for the remainder of the coins' existence.

Farthings of a similar design to his brother's were produced in each year of the reign of King George VI

George VI of the United Kingdom

George VI was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death...

. The inscription on the obverse reads GEORGIVS VI D G BR OMN REX F D IND IMP until 1948, then GEORGIVS VI D G BR OMN REX FIDEI DEF, but unlike the halfpenny there were no minute differences in the reverse each year.

The farthing of Queen Elizabeth II was only produced in four years, 1953–1956. The reverse was the same as before, while the obverse featured the queen's head by Mary Gillick

Mary Gillick

Mary Gillick was a sculptor best known for her effigy of Elizabeth II used on coinage in the United Kingdom and elsewhere from 1953 to 1967....

, with the inscription ELIZABETH II DEI GRA BRITT OMN REGINA F D in 1953, and ELIZABETH II DEI GRATIA REGINA F D for the other three years.

End of the farthing

In 1953 a correspondent wrote to The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...

that a bus conductor refused to accept eight farthings for a two penny bus fare, and that a newspaper vendor had become abusive when offered six farthings for a newspaper; although a subsequent letter pointed out that the farthing was still legal tender in sums up to one shilling, by 1956 it was apparent that due to inflation

Inflation

In economics, inflation is a rise in the general level of prices of goods and services in an economy over a period of time.When the general price level rises, each unit of currency buys fewer goods and services. Consequently, inflation also reflects an erosion in the purchasing power of money – a...

the farthing had outlived its usefulness, and minting ceased after that year. The farthing ceased to be legal tender after 31 December 1960.

The current (new) penny coin, which was introduced when decimalisation of British coinage took effect in 1971, is almost the same size as the last minted farthings, but at a hundred to the pound is nominally worth 9.6 times as much. However (as of 2010), inflation has given the new penny a purchasing power of less than half that of a farthing as it was on the eve of the latter's withdrawal in 1960.

External links

Medieval English and Irish Hammered Farthings Specialist site about Medieval English and Irish Hammered Farthings, includes historical information, rarity and pricing.
Pictures and Descriptions of the Farthings of Britain Site containing pictures and descriptions of the farthings used in Britain from the time of Henry III to Elizabeth II including currency, patterns, etc.
British Coins - Free information about British coins. Includes an online forum.
Farthing website showing a variety from 1799 - 1956 in different grades and varieties

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