HALF FARTHING: COIN OF UNITED KINGDOM
Half farthing, 1844: United Kingdom
Ruler: Victoria — Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (1837-1901).
HALF FARTHING.
St Edward's Crown — the centrepiece of the Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom (have traditionally been used to crown English and British monarchs at their coronations since the 13th century; the original was destroyed in the 17th century during the English Civil War).
Below the date is a graphic composition combining English, Scottish and Irish symbols — a rose, a thistle and a shamrock.
VICTORIA D: G: BRITANNIAR: REGINA F: D: (Latin "Victoria dei gratia Britanniar regina fidei defensor"): Victoria, by the grace of God, the British Queen, defender of the faith.
Uncrowned portrait of the young Queen by William Wyon (British engraver who was official chief engraver at the Royal Mint from 1828 until his death in 1851).
Engraver: William Wyon.
Royal Mint (United Kingdom).
Mintage: 6.451.000.
- Copper: 18 mm - 2.34 g
- Reference price: 20.5$
COIN HALF FARTHING — WHERE & WHEN (coins catalog: by names & emitents)
HALF FARTHING as coin name.
Half Farthing (1/2 farthing) — purely British copper coin of the mid-19th century, equal to 1/8 of a penny.
During the years 1839-1856, the London Royal Mint was carried out a mass issue of United Kingdom coins with a denomination of Half Farthing and a portrait of Queen Victoria. This was the smallest denomination of British coins.
Initially, this coin was intended exclusively only for use in the territory of the overseas possession on the Sri Lanka island (British Ceylon). However, within a few years, the half farthing received the status of a national means of payment.
An interesting small but significant detail that is not always noticed: the 1839 type under the date of the reverse of the coin contained a small image of only the English symbol — a rose, while from 1842 this element was replaced with English, Scottish and Irish symbols — a rose, a thistle and a shamrock.
In fact, the 1/8 penny (or 1/2 farthing) coin first appeared in 1828, but this type did not contain a direct indication of the denomination in an explicit form — the inscription Half Farthing was absent. This was also a coin for Ceylon, but with a portrait of King George IV.
The name of the coin speaks for itself and is a continuation of the traditional British practice of numismatic naming: half crown, half penny, half farthing...
