page_title: History of the British farthing
section_title: Soho and renewed regal issues (1799–1837)
hierarchical_section_title: History of the British farthing / Soho and renewed regal issues (1799–1837)
caption_attribution_description: British farthing from George III, 1807.
context_page_description: The British farthing was a British coin worth a quarter of an old penny. It ceased to be struck after 1956 and was demonetised from 1 January 1961.
  The British farthing is a continuation of the English farthing, struck by English monarchs prior to the Act of Union 1707 which unified the crowns of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain. Only pattern farthings were struck under Queen Anne as there was a glut of farthings from previous reigns. The coin was struck intermittently under George I and George II, but by the reign of George III, counterfeits were so prevalent the Royal Mint ceased striking copper coinage after 1775. The next farthings were the first struck by steam power, in 1799 by Matthew Boulton at his Soho Mint under licence. Boulton coined more in 1806, and the Royal Mint resumed production in 1821. The farthing was struck fairly regularly under George IV and William IV. By then it carried a scaled-down version of the penny's design, and would continue to mirror the penny and halfpenny until after 1936.
  Farthings were struck in most years of Queen Victoria's long reign.
context_section_description: From 1775, most copper coins in circulation were counterfeit. The private sector eventually reacted, filling the gap with private tokens starting in 1787, and the Treasury awarded a contract to Matthew Boulton to strike copper coins in 1797. At his Soho Mint near Birmingham, Boulton produced the well-known Cartwheel pennies and twopences, so named for their appearance, the first official British coins struck by steam. The contract did not include producing farthings, though Boulton prepared several patterns. In 1799, Boulton was given a licence to produce halfpennies and farthings. In the meantime the price of copper had risen, and a more conventional coin was struck.
  The 1799 farthing broke new ground in two areas: the reverse was inscribed 1 FARTHING, the first time the name of a denomination had ever appeared on an English or British coin, and it was also the first British coin to have the date on the same side as the monarch's head. The inscription on the obverse became GEORGIUS III DEI GRATIA REX, and the reverse depicts a redesigned left-facing seated Britannia holding a spray and spear, with the inscription BRITANNIA 1 FARTHING. In 1806–1807 a further 22.5 tons (23 tonnes) of copper was struck into farthings by Boulton, but the price of copper had risen again and the weight was less than the 1799 issue. Farthings of the 1799 issue weigh 5.8–6.6 grams (0.20–0.23 oz), with a diameter 23–24 millimetres (0.91–0.94 in), while the later Boulton issue weighs 4.7–4.8 grammes (0.17 oz) with a diameter 21–22 millimetres (0.83–0.87 in). For the 1806–1807 issues, the denomination was removed from the coin, DEI GRATIA was abbreviated as D G, and the image of Britannia was slightly modified. Copper farthings and halfpennies from before 1797 were called in by proclamation dated 5 December 1817, and were redeemed by weight.
  The currency was reformed in the 1810s with the Great Recoinage of 1816. The production of copper coins did not resume until after George III's death in 1820 and the accession of King George IV (1820–1830). Farthings were produced in 1821, Britannia maintaining her place on the reverse. These pieces were made current by a proclamation of 14 November of that year, that made them legal tender to sixpence. The original coinage portrait of the King, by Benedetto Pistrucci, attracted strong royal dislike, but was used on the farthing in 1821 and in 1823–26. By then, Pistrucci had been barred from work on the coinage for refusing to copy the work of another artist. William Wyon was given the task of engraving what became the more flattering "bare head" type of 1826. The issue of coppers in 1826 was because of the withdrawal of separate issues for Ireland; the Irish penny had been valued at ​¹²⁄₁₃ of its British equivalent. The reverse was redesigned slightly, but remained more or less the same. The Pistrucci-designed farthings weighed 4.5–4.8 grams (0.16–0.17 oz), with a diameter of 22 millimetres (0.87 in); the later ones by Wyon (issued each year from 1826–1830) weighed 4.6–4.9 grams (0.16–0.17 oz) with a diameter of 22 millimetres. Both Pistrucci's and Wyon's designs were produced in 1826. The Pistrucci obverse shows a left-facing bust of King George IV with the inscription GEORGIUS IIII DEI GRATIA, while the reverse shows a right-facing helmeted Britannia seated to the left of the coin, holding a shield and trident, with the inscription BRITANNIAR REX FID DEF and the date in the exergue under Britannia. The Wyon obverse shows a laureate bust of King George IV, facing left, with the inscription GEORGIUS IV DEI GRATIA, while the reverse inscription is unchanged.
  The death of King George in 1830 brought his brother, King William IV (1830–1837) to the throne. Wyon, by then Chief Engraver, left the reverse of the farthing unchanged, and for the obverse engraved a portrait of King William by Sir Francis Chantrey. The inscriptions were unchanged, except that GULIELMUS IIII (William IV) was substituted for GEORGIUS IV on the obverse. The farthing was produced in 1831, and 1834–1837, the final issue being struck during t
caption: Reverse of an 1807 Boulton-struck farthing
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