The farthing

Recently I was wondering about British coins. Our current batch are, I think, a mixture of the good and the bad. One design that I find particularly unappealing features parts of heraldic figures - lions, harps etc - that mean little to the viewer who is unfamiliar with the whole from which the fragment is extracted. Another complaint I have is the relatively short duration of some of the designs. With that in mind I researched the eight new designs to be introduced in 2024 that feature various species of UK flora and fauna. I am pleased to say they look quite attractive.

The inclusion of two birds, the puffin and the capercaillie, reminded me of the only other coin to have had a bird on it - the farthing (a quarter of a penny in value) - featuring the wren. This was taken out of circulation on 1st January 1961. The farthing featured in the photographs is the sole, and quite battered, example in our collection of old British coins.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Olympus OMD E-M10