1 Farthing - George V (1911–1925)

One row for each year the 1 Farthing - George V 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; years with no sales yet fill in as sales are recorded. 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 1911 1 Farthing - George V

The 1911 1 Farthing - George V is a circulating 1 farthing coin issued from 1911 to 1925, struck in bronze. It weighs 2.83g and measures 20mm across. Reverse design: Seated figure of Britannia facing right, trident in left hand, shield with Union flag in right, denomination above, sea behind, date in exergue.

Mintage figures are recorded for 15 years between 1911 and 1925, 157,446,000 coins in all. 1913 is the scarcest date, with 4,134,300 struck. It is no longer legal tender (withdrawn 1960), so its value is to collectors only.

Common questions

History and design

The George V farthing was made current by the proclamation of 28 November 1910, which took effect on 1 January 1911 and set new designs for the gold and bronze coins of the reign. The farthing, a quarter of a penny, kept its seated Britannia reverse and gained the new King's portrait.

It was struck every year from 1911 to 1925. Coin Hunter and Wikipedia agree on every date, totalling 157,496,719. Output more than doubled in the war, reaching 21,434,844 in 1917, while 1913 was the lowest date at 4,184,320. Wikipedia's penny history explains that small change was in heavy demand after the National Insurance Act of 1911 and through the war years.

In 1926 the portrait was modified and the reverse adjusted, which is why the catalogue treats the later farthings as a separate type.

The obverse is Bertram Mackennal's bare head of George V facing left, with GEORGIVS V DEI GRA: BRITT: OMN: REX FID: DEF: IND: IMP: around it. Mackennal won the design competition for the new coinage, and his initials B M sit on the truncation of the neck.

The proclamation describes the reverse as Britannia seated on a rock surrounded by the sea, her right hand holding a shield resting against the rock and her left hand grasping a trident, with FARTHING and the date. This is Leonard Charles Wyon's bronze Britannia of 1860, as simplified in 1895 when the lighthouse and ship were removed. The edge is plain.

Varieties and errors

Tony Clayton records two forms of the 1911 obverse, with and without a hollow at the back of the neck. In 1914 the spacing of GRA BRITT changed; both forms are equally common for 1914, but the earlier one on a 1915 farthing is a great rarity. 1918 exists darkened, which is rare, and bright.

Collecting notes

No date of this type is scarce by mintage, though 1913 and 1911 are the lowest. Clayton notes that farthings were darkened before issue until the practice ended during 1918. Check the neck on 1911 and the GRA BRITT spacing on 1914 and 1915.

The Royal Mint Museum notes that the farthing never circulated as freely as the halfpenny, and that it was demonetised at the end of 1960. The modified effigy farthing of 1926 to 1936 followed this type.