The British farthing (from Old English fēorðing, from fēorða, a fourth) abbreviated ''qua.'' (L. '' quadrans''), was a denomination of sterling coinage worth of one pound, of one

shilling The shilling is a historical coin, and the name of a unit of modern currencies formerly used in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, other British Commonwealth countries and Ireland, where they were generally equivalent to 12 pence ...

, or of one

penny A penny is a coin ( pennies) or a unit of currency (pl. pence) in various countries. Borrowed from the Carolingian denarius (hence its former abbreviation d.), it is usually the smallest denomination within a currency system. Presently, it is t ...

; initially minted in copper and then in bronze, which replaced the earlier English farthings. Before

Decimal Day Decimal Day in the United Kingdom and in Ireland was Monday 15 February 1971, the day on which each country decimalised its respective £sd currency of pounds, shillings, and pence. Before this date, the British pound sterling (symbol "£" ...

in 1971, Britain used the

Carolingian monetary system The Carolingian monetary system, also called the Carolingian coinage systempound sterling of 20 shillings, each of 12 pence. Each penny was divided into 4 farthings, thus, a pound sterling contained 960 farthings, and a shilling contained 48 farthings. From 1860 to 1971, the purchasing power of a farthing ranged between 12p and 0.2p in 2017 values. The farthing coin was legal tender during the reigns of eleven British monarchs: George I, George II, and

George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two kingdoms on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Br ...

George IV George IV (George Augustus Frederick; 12 August 1762 – 26 June 1830) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from the death of his father, King George III, on 29 January 1820, until his own death ten y ...

, William IV, and Victoria,

Edward VII Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until Death and state funeral of Edward VII, his death in 1910. The second chil ...

and

George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936. Born during the reign of his grandmother ...

Edward VIII Edward VIII (Edward Albert Christian George Andrew Patrick David; 23 June 1894 – 28 May 1972), later known as the Duke of Windsor, was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Empire and Emperor of India from 20 January 1 ...

George VI George VI (Albert Frederick Arthur George; 14 December 1895 – 6 February 1952) was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death in 1952. He was also the last Emperor of I ...

, and

Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states durin ...

. In Britain and Northern Ireland the farthing coin ceased to be legal tender on 1 January 1961; however, the farthing remaind legal tender in the

Falkland Islands The Falkland Islands (; es, Islas Malvinas, link=no ) is an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean on the Patagonian Shelf. The principal islands are about east of South America's southern Patagonian coast and about from Cape Dubouze ...

, the Falkland Islands Dependencies, and the British Antarctic Territory until 31 October 1970. In two-and-a-half centuries in circulation as British currency, the reverse face of the farthing coin was minted in two designs: (i) from the 18th century until 1936, the farthing featured the figure of

Britannia Britannia () is the national personification of Britain as a helmeted female warrior holding a trident and shield. An image first used in classical antiquity, the Latin ''Britannia'' was the name variously applied to the British Isles, Grea ...

; and (ii) from 1937, the farthing featured the image of a

wren Wrens are a family of brown passerine birds in the predominantly New World family Troglodytidae. The family includes 88 species divided into 19 genera. Only the Eurasian wren occurs in the Old World, where, in Anglophone regions, it is commonl ...

. Like all British coins, the obverse face of the farthing coin bore the portrait of the incumbent monarch.Michael, Thomas and Cuhaj, George S
''Collecting World Coins: Circulating Issues 1901 - Present''
(Krause Publications, 2001)

History

A British copper farthing succeeded the English farthing after England and Scotland were united into the

Kingdom of Great Britain The Kingdom of Great Britain (officially Great Britain) was a sovereign country in Western Europe from 1 May 1707 to the end of 31 December 1800. The state was created by the 1706 Treaty of Union and ratified by the Acts of Union 1707, wh ...

in 1707, although not immediately. Under Queen Anne, a small number of pattern farthings were struck, but none for circulation, as so many English farthings from previous reigns were still available. Some British copper farthings were struck in the reigns of George I and George II. By the accession of George III, in 1760, many counterfeits were in circulation, and the Royal Mint stopped minting copper coins in 1775. The next farthings were the first struck by steam power, in 1799 by Matthew Boulton at his Soho Mint, under licence. Boulton coined more in 1806, and the Royal Mint resumed production in 1821. The farthing was struck regularly under George IV and William IV, by then with a design very like a smaller version of the penny. GREAT BRITAIN, GEORGE II, 1746 -FARTHING a - Flickr - woody1778a

GREAT BRITAIN, GEORGE II, 1746 -FARTHING a - Flickr - woody1778a

Values less than a pound were usually written in terms of shillings and pence, e.g. three shillings and six pence (3/6), pronounced "three and six" or "three and sixpence". Values of less than a shilling were simply written in pence, e.g. (8d), pronounced "eightpence". A price with a farthing in it would be written like this: (d), pronounced "twopence r tuppencefarthing", or (1/), pronounced "one and threepence

r thruppence R, or r, is the eighteenth letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''ar'' (pronounced ), plural ''ars'', or in Irela ...

farthing" or (19/), pronounced "nineteen and eleven three farthing(s)". 19/ was a value used to make goods seem "significantly" cheaper than £1, usage similar to the modern £19.99, which is also the approximate value in 2021 of 19/ in 1961, the year when the farthing was withdrawn from circulation. The first bronze farthings were struck in 1860, in the reign of

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previ ...

, with a new reverse designed by

Leonard Charles Wyon Leonard Charles Wyon (23 November 1826 – 20 August 1891) was a British engraver of the Victorian era most notable for his work on the gold and silver coinage struck for the Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria in 1887 and the bronze coinage of ...

. This shows a seated

, holding a trident, with the word above. Between 1860 and 1895 there is a lighthouse to Britannia's left and a ship to her right. Various minor adjustments were made over the years to the level of the sea around Britannia and the angle of her trident. Some issues feature toothed edges to the coin, while others feature beading. 1919farthingrev

After 1860, seven different obverses were used. Edward VII, George V, George VI and Elizabeth II each had a single obverse for the farthings produced during their respective reigns. Over the long reign of Queen Victoria, two different obverses were used. The farthing of 1860 carried the so-called "bun head", or "draped bust" of Queen Victoria on the obverse. The inscription around the bust read (abbreviated Latin: Victoria by the grace of God queen of Britain defender of the faith). This was replaced in 1895 by the "old head", or "veiled bust". The inscription on these coins read (Victoria by the grace of God queen of Britain defender of the faith empress of India). Farthings issued during the reign of Edward VII feature his likeness and bear the inscription (Edward VII by the grace of God king of all Britons defender of the faith emperor of India). Similarly, those issued during the reign of George V feature his likeness and bear the inscription (George V by the grace of God king of all Britons defender of the faith emperor of India). A farthing of King Edward VIII (reigned 1936) does exist, dated 1937, but technically it is a pattern coin, one produced for official approval, which it was due to receive at about the time that the King abdicated, and in the event no farthings bearing his likeness were ever issued. The pattern has a left-facing portrait of the king, who considered this to be his best side, and consequently broke the tradition of alternating the direction in which the monarch faces on coins — some viewed this as indicating bad luck for the reign; the inscription on the obverse is (Edward VIII by the grace of God king of all Britons defender of the faith emperor of India). One feature of the pattern farthing of Edward VIII was a redesigned reverse displaying the

, one of Britain's smallest birds. From 1937 this appeared on the regular-issue farthings of George VI and was continued in the 1950s on the farthings of Elizabeth II. George VI coins feature the inscription (George VI by the grace of God king of all Britons defender of the faith emperor of India) before 1949, and (George VI by the grace of God king of all Britons defender of the faith) thereafter. Unlike the penny, farthings were minted throughout the early reign of Elizabeth II, bearing the inscription (Elizabeth II by the grace of God queen of all Britons defender of the faith) in 1953, and (Elizabeth II by the grace of God queen defender of the faith) thereafter.

Obverse designs

File:GREAT BRITAIN, GEORGE II, 1746 -FARTHING b - Flickr - woody1778a.jpg, George II File:GREAT BRITAIN, GEORGE III -FARTHING 1807 b - Flickr - woody1778a.jpg, George III File:GREAT BRITAIN, GEORGE IV 1822 -FARTHING b - Flickr - woody1778a.jpg, George IV File:Obverse of farthing Великобритания, 1831 - фартинг, Вильгельм IV 2.jpg, William IV File:Victoria farthing.jpg, Victoria (young) File:Victorianewfarthingobv.jpg, Victoria (old) File:EdwardvIIfarthingobv.jpg, Edward VII File:1919farthingobv.jpg, George V File:1944farthingobv.jpg, George VI File:Britfarthing1954obv.jpg, Elizabeth II

Mintages

References

External links

British Coins
– information about British coins (from 1656 to 1952)
Collection of copper & bronze pennies of Great BritainAbout Farthings
A photographic collection of farthings
My Farthing Collection
A private collection of farthings dating from 1799–1956 {{DEFAULTSORT:Farthing Coins of Great Britain Pre-decimalisation coins of the United Kingdom Coins of the United Kingdom

History

Obverse designs

Mintages

See also

References

External links