Quarter farthing

2025-10-14T06:49:53Z

2001:56A:FA7A:DC00:45B0:7DAF:29EB:1043: Looking carefully at the photo of the coin, it DOES look like BRITTANIAR -- I don't have any idea why! So I have reverted the article to what it was before y previous attempted correction.

{{short description|Former piece of British coinage}}
{{one source|date=March 2023}}
{{Infobox coin
| Country = United Kingdom
| Denomination = One-quarter farthing
| Value = £0.00026041{{overline|6}}<br />0.0625''[[Penny (British pre-decimal coin)|d]]''
| Unit =
| Mass = 1.2
| Diameter = 13.5
| Thickness =
| Edge = Plain
| Composition = (1839–1853) copper<br/>(1868) bronze
| Years of Minting = 1839, 1851–1853, 1868
| Catalog Number =
| Obverse = 1868 Quarter Farthing obverse.png
| Obverse Design = [[Queen Victoria]]
| Obverse Designer = [[William Wyon]]
| Obverse Design Date = 1839
| Reverse = 1868 Quarter Farthing reverse.png
| Reverse Design = [[St Edward's Crown|Crown]] and [[Tudor rose|rose]]
| Reverse Design Date = 1839
}}

The '''quarter farthing''' was a [[Coins of the pound sterling|British coin]] worth {{frac|1|3840}} of a [[Pound (currency)|pound]], {{frac|1|192}} of a [[Shilling (British coin)|shilling]], or {{frac||1|16}} of a [[Penny (British pre-decimal coin)|penny]]. The [[Royal Mint]] issued the coins in copper for exclusive use in [[British Ceylon]] in 1839, 1851, 1852, and 1853.<ref name="Peck415">{{Harvnb|Peck|1960|p=415}}</ref> The mint also produced bronze [[Proof coinage|proof]]s in 1868.<ref name="Peck416">{{Harvnb|Peck|1960|p=416}}</ref>

The [[Obverse and reverse|obverse]] of the coins used [[William Wyon]]'s obverse die for the [[Royal Maundy#Maundy coinage|Maundy twopence]], bearing a left-facing portrait of Queen Victoria and the legend {{small|VICTORIA D: G: BRITANNIAR: REGINA F: D:}}.<ref name="Peck415"/> Wyon designed the [[Obverse and reverse|reverse]] to feature a [[St Edward's Crown|royal crown]] above the words {{small|QUARTER FARTHING}} and the date. Below the date, the coins featured a [[Tudor rose|heraldic rose]] with three leaves on either side.<ref name="Peck415"/> The coins were made of [[copper]], weighed 1.2 gramme, and had a diameter of 13.5 millimetres.<ref name="Peck415"/> The mint struck proof quarter farthings in bronze and copper-nickel in 1868, but did not issue any quarter farthings for circulation that year.<ref name="Peck416"/>

While quarter farthings were never legal tender in the United Kingdom,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.royalmintmuseum.org.uk/journal/curators-corner/fractional-farthings/ |title=Fractional Farthings|year=2013 |publisher=Royal Mint Museum}}</ref> they are fractions of the British [[Farthing (British coin)|farthing]], which was currency in Ceylon, and traditionally have been catalogued as British coinage.<ref>{{Harvnb|Peck|1960|p=391}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

===Sources===
*{{cite book |title=English Copper, Tin and Bronze Coins in the British Museum: 1558–1958 |last=Peck |first=C. Wilson |year=1960 |publisher=Trustees of the British Museum |location=London}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Quarter farthing}}

[[Category:Coins of Sri Lanka]]
[[Category:Coins of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Pre-decimalisation coins of the United Kingdom]]

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Quarter farthing