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 Replies: 21 / Views: 4,321 |
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New Member
Australia
21 Posts |
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Pillar of the Community
Australia
1244 Posts |
Yes  |
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Pillar of the Community
Australia
877 Posts |
If they are pre 1910 (silver) or 1911( bronze) they could very well be Australian.
Australian coins were only introduced then and English pattern coins were used prior.
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Bedrock of the Community
Australia
21786 Posts |
Quite a few Pommie coins in that lot!
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Valued Member
Australia
428 Posts |
yep, as I see them they are english coins..
,, kel ,,
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Pillar of the Community
Australia
2830 Posts |
they're all from the U.K. So was his other lot of coins.
Australia never had farthings.
It's a bit depressing to think that a vendor in Melbourne wouldn't know this: must be a child of the post-1966 era ... probably doesn't know anything about music either.
I messaged the vendor: he combined the lots and amended the description, and sent me a polite "thankyou".
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Pillar of the Community
Australia
762 Posts |
Quote:
Australia never had farthings 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.  |
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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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Replies: 21 / Views: 4,321 |
Posted 08/28/2012 04:58 am
