The
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
quarter farthing was a denomination of
sterling coinage worth of a
pound, of a
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 a
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 ...
. It was produced for circulation in
Ceylon
Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
in various years between 1839 and 1853, with proof coins being produced in 1868. It is the smallest
denomination of sterling coin ever minted. The coin is considered to be part of
British coinage
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
because Ceylon otherwise used standard sterling coin and it was made in the same style as the contemporary Ceylonese
half-farthing which was legal tender in Britain between 1842 and 1869.
Coins were minted in 1839, 1851, 1852, 1853, and the proof issue of 1868. The 1839–53 coins were made of copper, weighed and had a diameter of . So, £1 worth of quarter farthings weighed 10 avoirdupois pounds (). The 1868 coins were made of bronze or cupro-nickel, but weighed the same and had the same diameter.
The obverse bears the left-facing portrait 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 the inscription , while the reverse bears a crown above the words with a rose with three leaves at both sides at the bottom of the coin.
A quarter-farthing's conversion to current sterling denominations would place it at slightly more than one fortieth of a decimal penny. Allowing for inflation however, the quarter farthing would have a purchasing power of between 3p and 4p (£0.03 to £0.04) expressed in 2017 values.
References
External links
British Coins– information about British coins (from 1656 to 1952)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Quarter farthing
Coins of Great Britain
Pre-decimalisation coins of the United Kingdom
Coins of the United Kingdom