…a half farthing dated 1844

In the 1960’s musical Half a Sixpence, pop icon Tommy Steele sang “Half a sixpence, is better than half a penny, is better than half a farthing, is better than none.” Was there such a coin as half a farthing? Indeed there was.

It was first introduced in the British colony of Ceylon (present day Sri Lanka) in 1828. The coin was made legal tender in the UK in 1842 and issued in further years until 1856. This 1844 example is one of about six and a half million issued that year. The reverse shows the Crown to represent the monarchy, and the rose, thistle and shamrock to symbolise the union. 

In the pre-decimal days, there were 240 pennies to the pound. There were four farthings to a penny, hence 1,920 half farthings to the pound. There was some scepticism at the time, from the more prosperous elements, that a coin of such a small denomination was needed. But in the 1840’s a labourer’s wage was typically no more than fifteen shillings a week (75p). Adjusted for inflation, by some measures this makes the half farthing worth around four pence today. But as a fraction of a basic modern wage of (say) £300 a week, it represents nearer fifteen pence. So although physically small at 18mm diameter, and dismissed by some, it was in its time of greater relative purchasing power than some of our present day coins.