1 Farthing - George III 4th issue (1806–1807)

One row for each year the 1 Farthing - George III 4th issue was struck. Prices are medians of verified sold listings matched to that year from the listing: circulated is worn condition up to Extremely Fine, uncirculated is About Uncirculated or better. A count in brackets means fewer than three sales behind the figure; a grey figure marked "type" is the median across every year, shown where that year has no sale of its own yet. Most types have been searched year by year only since October 2026, so later years are still filling in. Use the grade table below for a price by condition across all years.

About the 1806 1 Farthing - George III 4th issue

The 1806 1 Farthing - George III 4th issue is a circulating 1 farthing coin issued from 1806 to 1807, struck in copper. It weighs 4.72g and measures 21mm across. Reverse design: Seated figure of Britannia facing left, trident in left hand, shield with Union flag resting on left, olive branch in raised right hand, legend above, sea behind with ship on left.

It is no longer legal tender (withdrawn 1869), so its value is to collectors only.

Common questions

History and design

Boulton's first Soho farthing, of 1799, was the first British coin to name its denomination. Wikipedia records that he gained a further contract in 1805, but copper had risen in price again: it took 24 of the new pennies to make a pound weight, against 16 in 1797. The farthing shrank accordingly, to 4.7 to 4.8 g and 21 to 22 mm, against roughly 6 g for the 1799 coin.

Coin Hunter gives 4,833,768 farthings for 1806 and 1,075,200 for 1807, just under 5.9 million in all. After 1807 no farthings were struck for circulation until the Royal Mint resumed them in 1821, after the Great Recoinage.

The obverse carries a new, shorter-haired laureate and draped bust of George III facing right, with GEORGIUS III. D: G. REX. and the date below, and an incuse K on the lowest fold of the drapery for Conrad Heinrich Küchler, Boulton's engraver. Wikipedia notes that DEI GRATIA was shortened to D G and the denomination dropped.

The reverse shows Britannia seated left on a rock with olive branch, trident and shield, a ship sailing behind her, SOHO raised on the rock and a small raised K to the left of the shield, with BRITANNIA above. The Royal Mint Museum records an engrailed edge and the two sides set upside down to each other; its 1806 and 1807 coins weigh 4.38 g to 4.55 g.

Varieties and errors

The Royal Mint Museum holds 1806 proofs in plain copper, bronzed copper and gilt copper. CoinVarieties also records a bronzed restrike produced for collectors and catalogued as KM 661b. The gilt proof has its own page: the 1806 gilt proof farthing.

Collecting notes

1807 is the smaller of the two dates, at about a fifth of the 1806 figure. Check the edge for the central grained band and the small K beside the shield. A bronzed proof-like piece may be one of the later restrikes made for collectors rather than a proof of 1806.

Tony Clayton records that copper farthings were demonetised on 31 December 1869, and the Mint went on exchanging them until 30 July 1873. The previous Soho issue is the 1799 farthing.