Farthing 1934, Coin from United Kingdom - detailed information

The Farthing was a small circulating coin of the British pre-decimal Pound Sterling, equal to a quarter of a penny. Prices were never written in farthings though - something worth a farthing would be quoted as 1/4d ("d" being the abbreviation for "penny", from the Roman "denarius"). There were 20 shillings to a pound, 12 pence to a shilling and 4 farthings to a penny, so 960 of these coins made up £1.

The denomination continues the tradition of earlier farthing coins of Great Britain, which also featured the figure of Britannia. The bronze coins of bronze coins of these specifications replaced the larger copper farthings which were issued until 1860. The new, more durable, alloy was composed of 95 parts of copper, four of tin and one of zinc. Between 1860 and 1895, the farthing had the third Britannia design on the reverse, and Queen Victoria's "Bun Head" effigy. During 1895, the reverse was updated to this fourth Britannia design - which is a simplified version of the earlier design by Leonard Charles Wyon, and the obverse to the Queen's "Veiled Head" portrait (in 1895, farthings of the two types were issued). The coins of this type were issued until 1936, with obverses changing to King Edward VII and King George V accordingly. In 1937, the reverse was redesigned for the new issue of King George VI.

Farthings were demonetised before the rest of the pre-decimal currency. They ceased to be legal tender after 31 December 1960. In other words, farthings issued in 1934 remained in circulation for 27 years.