Victoria, Farthing (Young Head) Copper Very Fine

It is now 71 years since Princess Elizabeth became Queen Elizabeth II. We have been privileged to visit Tree Tops where they have a plaque commemorating the place that Elizabeth first became Queen. This is the first Queen Elizabeth II Crown, this is the Coronation Crown, and this is the first coin to be issued for our late Monarch. It shows the Queen riding on her horse and the design was much more unusual than anything issued before it. Despite being 71 years old and the first coin of our Monarch, the prices are still very reasonable, or at least our prices are. We have seen one of the marketing companies charging £30 for one and they don’t even give you the grade. We are offering these in Extremely Fine.

The copper Half Farthing of Queen Victoria is a most unusual coin. They only made them in copper and most were used overseas, but they were of course legal tender and used in this country. We recently bought an old dealers hoard of these coins, most are dated 1844 or 1843 and they are in Very Fine condition. We last bought a hoard about ten years ago and this new hoard was very timely, as we had almost run out of them. They are not a coin that you can just go out and buy a quantity when you need it, they are not easy to get. This coin has always been one of my favourite denomination, a Half Farthing just sounds so unusual. The last time this denomination was used was under Queen Victoria and they were only struck in the early part of her reign, when the coins were copper and not bronze.

In 1977 Queen Elizabeth II celebrated her Silver Jubilee, the 25th anniversary of her reign. The Royal Mint issued the second modern Proof Set for this Queen to contain a crown or 25 Pence Piece. Normally we charge £32.50 for this Proof Set with the crown. If you don’t think it is a bargain, look on the Royal Mint website and see how much they are charging for current Proof Sets!