farthings went out of circulation in uk in 1936.
when did farthings go out of circulation in uk?
1936
the farthings of edward's son and successor, king george v, resulted in a new left-facing portrait by sir bertram mackennal and the continuation of the britannia design. farthings bearing king george's portrait were produced every year of his reign but 1910 and 1936. other than substituting (george v) for , no change was made to the inscription. in 1917, the mint ceased to darken farthings as the half sovereign was no longer being minted. in common with the penny and halfpenny, the king's head was made slightly smaller in 1926. the depiction of britannia was also slightly adjusted in that year. a total of £5,710,748 in pennies, £1,039,704 in halfpennies and £222,643 in farthings were struck for the reign.
history of the british farthing
the need for a copper coinage was no less after the accession of king george i (1714–1727), but the anne halfpennies and farthings (made with metal prepared at the royal mint) had failed tests for purity, and it was not until 1717 that newton tried to coin those two denominations again, this time from copper strip purchased from a contractor. the price of metal had risen, so the new farthings were lighter than the anne coins, at 4.5–5.3 grams. the farthings struck in 1717 were smaller and thicker than the 1714 coins, with a diameter of 20–21 millimetres, and they are known as "dump" farthings. farthings of 1719–1724 are slightly larger, at 22–23 millimetres, but are of the same weight. the coins were in high relief, and the royal mint had trouble transferring the design to the blanks, resulting in myriad flaws. the coin features the right-facing head of king george and the inscription on the obverse, and for the reverse a design identical to that of the anne farthings: britannia with the inscription and the date in the exergue below. farthings were for sale at the mint's premises at the tower of london in packets of five and ten shillings; the treasury refused to allocate funds for provincial distribution. the farthing's designs were by john croker, possibly assisted by johann rudolph ochs sr, and were struck in every year from 1717–1724. the mint had contracted for strip for seven years; when the contract ended, the coinage stopped.
history of the british farthing