The half farthing was a British coin worth of a pound, of a

shilling The shilling is a historical coin, and the name of a unit of modern currency, currencies formerly used in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, other British Commonwealth countries and Ireland, where they were generally equivalent to 1 ...

, or of a

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

. The coins were minted in copper for use in

British Ceylon British Ceylon (; ), officially British Settlements and Territories in the Island of Ceylon with its Dependencies from 1802 to 1833, then the Island of Ceylon and its Territories and Dependencies from 1833 to 1931 and finally the Island of Cey ...

in various years between 1828 and 1856, and as a bronze proof coin in 1868. In 1842, they were also declared legal tender in the United Kingdom. Half farthings were demonetised along with all other British copper coins on 31 December 1869.

History

The

Royal Mint The Royal Mint is the United Kingdom's official maker of British coins. It is currently located in Llantrisant, Wales, where it moved in 1968. Operating under the legal name The Royal Mint Limited, it is a limited company that is wholly ow ...

first produced half farthings in 1828 for use in

, using dies by William Wyon. The

obverse The obverse and reverse are the two flat faces of coins and some other two-sided objects, including paper money, flags, seals, medals, drawings, old master prints and other works of art, and printed fabrics. In this usage, ''obverse'' ...

of the coin bore a left-facing portrait of

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 29 January 1820 until his death in 1830. At the time of his accession to the throne, h ...

, with the legend and the date, while the reverse showed a seated

Britannia The image of Britannia () is the national personification of United Kingdom, Britain as a helmeted female warrior holding a trident and shield. An image first used by the Romans in classical antiquity, the Latin was the name variously appli ...

with shield, facing right and holding a trident, with the inscription . The coins were made of

copper Copper is a chemical element; it has symbol Cu (from Latin ) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkish-orang ...

, weighed 2.4 grammes, and had a diameter of 18 millimetres. The mint produced a second issue of George IV half farthings in 1830. The mint produced one issue of half farthings during the reign of

William IV William IV (William Henry; 21 August 1765 – 20 June 1837) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from 26 June 1830 until his death in 1837. The third son of George III, William succeeded hi ...

in 1837. The obverse bore a right-facing portrait of William IV by Wyon with the legend and the date. The coins used the same reverse dies as the issues of George IV, and were struck with the same size and weight standards. Wyon redesigned the half farthing for

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 Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in January 1901. Her reign of 63 year ...

's first issue in 1839. The obverse used the same dies as Wyon's Maundy fourpence, bearing a left-facing portrait of Queen Victoria and the legend . The mint completely redesigned the reverse to avoid any resemblance between half farthings and the fourpence coins introduced in 1836 and issued for Ceylon in 1839. The new reverse featured a royal crown above the words and the date. Below the date, the coins featured a heraldic rose with three leaves on either side. This design was extremely similar with the quarter farthing, which had been first minted the same year. The mint produced additional issues in 1842, 1843, 1844, 1847, 1851, 1852, 1853, 1854, and 1856, all to the same size and weight standards as the issues of George IV and William IV, but with the rose emblem changed to a joint rose,

thistle Thistle is the common name of a group of flowering plants characterized by leaves with sharp spikes on the margins, mostly in the family Asteraceae. Prickles can also occur all over the planton the stem and on the flat parts of the leaves. T ...

, and

shamrock A shamrock is a type of clover, used as a symbol of Ireland. The name ''shamrock'' comes from Irish (), which is the diminutive of the Irish word and simply means "young clover". At most times'', Shamrock'' refers to either the species ...

. The mint produced

proof Proof most often refers to: * Proof (truth), argument or sufficient evidence for the truth of a proposition * Alcohol proof, a measure of an alcoholic drink's strength Proof may also refer to: Mathematics and formal logic * Formal proof, a co ...

half farthings in bronze and copper-nickel in 1868, but no 1868 half farthings were issued for circulation. Half farthings were made legal tender in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

on 13 June 1842. Several letters to the editor in ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'' criticised the proclamation. All British copper coins, including half farthings, were demonetised and taken out of circulation on 31 December 1869.

Notes

References

Sources

* {{British coinage 1842 establishments in the United Kingdom 1869 disestablishments in the United Kingdom 1828 establishments in Ceylon Coins of Sri Lanka Coins of the United Kingdom Pre-decimalisation coins of the United Kingdom