Victoria, Halfpenny 1901 Brilliant Unc

In 1956 the Royal Mint issued the last Farthing ever! We're guessing that it was too low of a denomination to be of any use. We have a nice small group of Brilliant Uncirculated 1956 Queen Elizabeth II Farthings. These are the last Farthing to ever be struck. The Mint didn’t make a lot of them and they are the most difficult date of Queen Elizabeth II to find. Get them while you can, remember there were 4 to a Penny and 960 to the pound. These are now 63 years old and in Brilliant Uncirculated condition.

Victorian Farthings featuring the “Old” or “Veiled” Head were only minted from 1895 - 1901. From 1897, the vast majority were “mint darkened” at the mint, this was to stop the public trying to pass the shiny new bronze farthings off as Half Sovereigns! This practice continued until 1925. We recently got hold of a large group of these farthings, they must have been put away for a very long time as they are all around Extremely Fine, but not lustrous as they were darkened. Whatever the catalogue price is, it’s safe to say the 1895 is rarer than the book suggests!

The 1955 Wren Farthing was the penultimate, or the next to last Farthing to ever be struck. In 1956 the last ever Farthing was struck. For some reason, this penultimate Farthing is rather difficult to find in Brilliant Uncirculated condition. You have the youthful bust of Queen Elizabeth II on one side, remember that she only came to the throne in 1952, and on the other side you have a beautiful little wren. The coins on offer are in Brilliant Uncirculated condition and are now some 63 years old. For those of you too young to remember, there were 240 Pennies to the Pound and 4 Farthings to the Penny. So that a pound’s worth of Farthings would have been 960 coins. Don’t we wish we had the money and had put them away at the time?