Quarter_farthing_(British_coin)

Quarter farthing

Quarter farthing

Former piece of British coinage

The quarter farthing was a British coin worth 1⁄3840 of a pound, 1⁄192 of a shilling, or +1⁄16 of a penny. The Royal Mint issued the coins in copper for exclusive use in British Ceylon in 1839, 1851, 1852, and 1853.[1] The mint also produced bronze proofs in 1868.[2]

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The obverse of the coins used William Wyon's obverse die for the Maundy twopence, bearing a left-facing portrait of Queen Victoria and the legend VICTORIA D: G: BRITANNIAR: REGINA F: D:.[1] Wyon designed the reverse to feature a royal crown above the words QUARTER FARTHING and the date. Below the date, the coins featured a heraldic rose with three leaves on either side.[1] The coins were made of copper, weighed 1.2 gramme, and had a diameter of 13.5 millimetres.[1] The mint struck proof quarter farthings in bronze and copper-nickel in 1868, but did not issue any quarter farthings for circulation that year.[2]

While quarter farthings were never legal tender in the United Kingdom,[3] they are fractions of the British farthing, which was currency in Ceylon, and traditionally have been catalogued as British coinage.[4]

References

  1. [1]
    Peck 1960, p. 415
  2. [2]
    Peck 1960, p. 416
  3. [3]
    "Fractional Farthings". Royal Mint Museum. 2013.
  4. [4]
    Peck 1960, p. 391

Sources

  • Peck, C. Wilson (1960). English Copper, Tin and Bronze Coins in the British Museum: 1558–1958. London: Trustees of the British Museum.
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