Quarter farthing
Former piece of British coinage
title: "Quarter farthing" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["coins-of-sri-lanka", "coins-of-the-united-kingdom", "pre-decimalisation-coins-of-the-united-kingdom"] description: "Former piece of British coinage" topic_path: "geography/united-kingdom" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quarter_farthing" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Former piece of British coinage ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox coin"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Denomination | One-quarter farthing |
| Value | £0.00026041 |
| 0.0625*d* | |
| Mass | 1.2 |
| Diameter | 13.5 |
| Edge | Plain |
| Composition | (1839–1853) copper |
| (1868) bronze | |
| Years of Minting | 1839, 1851–1853, 1868 |
| 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 | Crown and rose |
| Reverse Design Date | 1839 |
| :: |
| Country = United Kingdom | Denomination = One-quarter farthing | Value = £0.00026041 0.0625*d* | Unit = | Mass = 1.2 | Diameter = 13.5 | Thickness = | Edge = Plain | Composition = (1839–1853) copper (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 = Crown and rose | Reverse Design Date = 1839
The quarter farthing was a British coin worth of a pound, of a shilling, or of a penny. The Royal Mint issued the coins in copper for exclusive use in British Ceylon in 1839, 1851, 1852, and 1853. The mint also produced bronze proofs in 1868.
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:. 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. The coins were made of copper, weighed 1.2 gramme, and had a diameter of 13.5 millimetres. The mint struck proof quarter farthings in bronze and copper-nickel in 1868, but did not issue any quarter farthings for circulation that year.
While quarter farthings were never legal tender in the United Kingdom, they are fractions of the British farthing, which was currency in Ceylon, and traditionally have been catalogued as British coinage.
References
Sources
References
- {{Harvnb. Peck. 1960
- {{Harvnb. Peck. 1960
- (2013). "Fractional Farthings". Royal Mint Museum.
- {{Harvnb. Peck. 1960
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