This article relies largely or entirely on a
single source. (March 2023) |
United Kingdom | |
Value | £0.000260416 0.0625 d |
---|---|
Mass | 1.2 g |
Diameter | 13.5 mm |
Edge | Plain |
Composition | (1839–1853) copper (1868) bronze |
Years of minting | 1839, 1851–1853, 1868 |
Obverse | |
Design | Queen Victoria |
Designer | William Wyon |
Design date | 1839 |
Reverse | |
Design | Crown and rose |
Design date | 1839 |
The quarter farthing was a British coin worth 1⁄3840 of a pound, 1⁄192 of a shilling, or +1⁄16 of a penny. The Royal Mint issued the coins in copper for exclusive use in British Ceylon in 1839, 1851, 1852, and 1853. [1] The mint also produced bronze proofs in 1868. [2]
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:. [1] 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. [1] The coins were made of copper, weighed 1.2 gramme, and had a diameter of 13.5 millimetres. [1] The mint struck proof quarter farthings in bronze and copper-nickel in 1868, but did not issue any quarter farthings for circulation that year. [2]
While quarter farthings were never legal tender in the United Kingdom, [3] they are fractions of the British farthing, which was currency in Ceylon, and traditionally have been catalogued as British coinage. [4]