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Pillar of the Community
Australia
7096 Posts |
Quote:
Farthings weren't discontinued in the UK until the 1950s so I had assumed that in Australia we had just continued using British farthings since we didnt make any of our own.
Surely the half penny wasn't the lowest denomination of legal tender? It would have been worth quite a bit in 1911.
The Brits also had "Fractional Farthings" 1/4 1/3 and half farthings  And all we had were half pennys  |
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Pillar of the Community
Australia
653 Posts |
Maybe because the Brits needed 1/2 farthings to pay the wages of the "wretchedly poor"  Maybe that is why there were so many people sent to "The Colony" as convicts for snitching a loaf of bread etc. Must have been really awful living as a poor person in England in those days  . Squire Edited by Squire Wilson
08/28/2012 9:29 pm
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Valued Member
Australia
318 Posts |
The quarter Farthing was made for use in Ceylon (Sri Lanka), and was not legal tender in Britain - though the half Farthing was, and the third Farthing was for use in Malta.
Gee, what would a coin equivalent of 1/4 of 1/4 of a cent: i.e. 1/16 of a cent buy you, even in Ceylon in the 1800s ?
Here in Oz in the early 1970's I recall you could buy some lollies at 4 to a cent, so theoretically a Farthing may have been of some use.
I've not seen a 1/4 farthing up close, but it must be a tiny little thing, at 13.5 mm. Our one cent is 17.5mm, and a threepence is 16mm. Anyone have one to put up in a pic of comparison of sizes?
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Pillar of the Community
Australia
2180 Posts |
Quote:
Farthings weren't discontinued in the UK until the 1950s so I had assumed that in Australia we had just continued using British farthings since we didnt make any of our own.
Surely the half penny wasn't the lowest denomination of legal tender? It would have been worth quite a bit in 1911. They may have been used up until 1920 but I recall reading in an article at http://naa-online.com/ that Australia never had its own farthings because they hadn't been used a whole lot in the period leading up to 1910 anyway. |
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Pillar of the Community
Australia
762 Posts |
It would be nice if a .... (ahem) senior  member could clarify whether British Farthings were used in Australia since we didn't have any of our own. |
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Valued Member
Australia
428 Posts |
i dont remember ever useing them in my life time and I am 70 years old ..
,, kel ,,
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Pillar of the Community
Australia
4411 Posts |
My grandfather is over for my sisters birthday so I asked him. He is 82 and cannot remember using them himself. He distinctly remember his mother telling him how they were used in the year prior to 1910 and then a few years after.
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Pillar of the Community
Australia
2180 Posts |
As an aside, when American servicemen were in Australia for World War II, the use of American coins was permitted and I think some the exchange rates for some coins were given down to the farthing. I saw this in an Australian Coin Review article from 1988 or thereabouts.
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Pillar of the Community
Australia
2180 Posts |
Okay, I went and looked up the article (December 1988 for anyone interested).
All conversions were given to the nearest halfpenny but in the section that listed American coins and their 'Australian' counterparts, the American penny's Australian counterpart was given as the farthing and the American silver dollar was described as being similar to the "former half-crown".
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Pillar of the Community
Australia
4411 Posts |
I just had a noodle of $25 of 1c and 2c coins from the bank and found 2 1956 farthings, one of them very nice.
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Valued Member
180 Posts |
Winning bid $19.99 only 1 bidder.
Not worth a debate imho
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Formerly nancyc
Australia
5385 Posts |
GB 1835 Third Farthing - Compared to 1 Cent  GB 1835 Third Farthing  GB 1844 Half Farthing - Compared to 1 Cent  GB 1844 Half Farthing  life is a mystery to be lived not a problem to be solved
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Valued Member
Australia
318 Posts |
Nice selection there, Nancy. Thanks for showing the size comparisons. I have a few Farthings, but nothing smaller. The halfs and thirds aren't as small as I thought... Here's a couple of full Farthings,1826 and 1875H, compared to our modern coins. Whether they circulated here in Oz, I'm not sure.   |
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Pillar of the Community
Australia
4411 Posts |
Here is the farthing I found on Friday in 1c and 2c coins. I think it is much closer to the 2c than the 1c.  |
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Pillar of the Community
Australia
7096 Posts |
Hers another size comparison pic  |
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Replies: 21 / Views: 4,333 |
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Posted 08/28/2012 9:16 pm
