First off, I am wondering how much a farthing is in relation to other British money. Also, I've noticed that farthings seem to be the most seldom-seen of all the 20th century, non-silver British coinage. I search through the foreign coin bins at my local coin shop and I almost never see farthings. But when I look in Krause, most don't have a premium. Is there any reason why they seem to be so scarce or is it just an oddity about where I shop?
:secret: Shhh! In my opinion, early pre-Victorian (1672-1837) copper farthings are one of the most undervalued coins in numismatics. With all the bullion frenzy, people have forgotten the beauty and history behind these small but gorgeous pieces of copper. Here's a nice introduction: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farthing_(British_coin) Here are a few relatively inexpensive farthings. g.
You have some nice ones, Bart. I recently bought a group on eBay, I think it was about 12 coins. I couldn't see the dates but I could tell they were all the older style and it was $6 so I thought it was worth a shot. I got them today and was pleasantly surprised. They were all in good shape and mostly from the teens. There was an 1860 and 1899. I'm trying to build a set of more modern British coins and the farthings are probably the one where I need the most coins out of any of them (non-silver). One of the nice things about them is they seem to maintain their detail well. I rarely see one that's very worn and the letters really seem to stand out.
the farthings are really very underestimated coins, the name originates from medieval times when the silver penny was the only monetary unit in use in england. to make a half pence the penny was cut into two and then it was cut into four called fourthings, hence the name farthing, the first real farthings were minted at the beginning of the seventeenth century and were named rose or maltravers farthings, the coins did not bear the monarchs head that honour fell to the charles II farthings which were the first to have the monarch on the obverse. they continued in regular mintage until 1956 and were eventually de-monetized in 1960, some of the dates are particularly difficult to find whilst others can be purchased quite cheaply.
there are also third and quarter farthings, but what use was a coin which was worth one eighth of a penny?
I did not know that Moneyer. Well you could balance a wheel, use as a fuse, melt for solder... lots of things. Moneyer, do you have an example, for us to see ???
Thank you Davey. So are these bits about 1/2 the size of a half fartling ??? I bet they are hard to find in good shape.
I've also seen in Krause that there were 4 pence coins and I've never seen one of those. I admit that I have trouble understanding the British monetary system. I need to find a chart somewhere.
Those are were Groats and also Maundy money coins, one,two,three & four pence Silver Maundy. There was also Half Groats, Angels and Half & Quarter Angels, Nobles, a Fourpence Farthing and Twopence Farthing, Threefarthings, Spur-Ryal, Laurel,Half Laurel,Quarter Laurel, Double Crown, Double Florin, Unite, Half Unite, Guineas 5,2,1 & Half, Three-halfpence.:smile I wont go into the ancient coinage.:rollling:
Quarter farthings, third farthings, half farthings and two-thirds farthings were imperial issues, made to correspond to local denominations abroad, but also technically legal tender in England. Same with the tiny silver one and one-half pence coins made under William IV. Basic L s d coinage works like this: Four farthings to a penny. Twelve pence to a shilling. Twenty shillings to a pound. A groat is four pence (three to a shilling) A florin is two shillings (ten to a pound). A half crown is two shillings, six pence (eight to a pound). A crown is five shillings (four to a pound). A sovereign is one pound. A guinea is one pound, one shilling.
not to mention the double florin 4 shillings (5 to a pound) just imagine if the proposed octorino of 8 pence had gone beyond the pattern stage in the early 20th century
The florin and double florin were both 19th Century innovations, supposed to be a step toward the decimalization of English currency. The florin endured, being issued until the 1960's, but the double florin was unpopular, and issued only for a few years. Decimalization didn't actually occur until 1971.
So yes - farthings are very interesting! There are 960 to £1. They were minted until 1956, and demonitised in 1960. Because they are underrated, you can get some really nice examples for not much money! I have all Unc back to 1916, and some others before that. However, I still need to acquire some copper examples. Interesting fact ... for the last couple of mintings of third-farthings (used in Malta) of 1902 and 1913, there were exactly £100 of the coins minted ... 960 x 3 = 2,880 = £1. There were 288,000 of each date minted - therefore, if you collected ALL the 1/3 farthings for each date ... you'd have just £100! Groats are just 4d coins by another name! Enjoy your farthing collecting!
the worlds best farthing dealer is colin cooke in stockport, what he doesn't know about the coins isn't worth knowing. www.colincooke.com
Absolutely agree! I have bought quite a few coins from him in my time (can't recall if any were farthings, but yes, he is the expert bar none!).
