1 Farthing - George V modified effigy (1926–1936)

One row for each year the 1 Farthing - George V modified effigy 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 1926 1 Farthing - George V modified effigy

The 1926 1 Farthing - George V modified effigy is a circulating 1 farthing coin issued from 1926 to 1936, 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 hand, denomination above, sea behind, date in exergue.

Mintage figures are recorded for 11 years between 1926 and 1936, 77,363,000 coins in all. 1935 is the scarcest date, with 2,227,200 struck. It is no longer legal tender (withdrawn 1960), so its value is to collectors only.

Common questions

History and design

In 1926 the farthing received a modified portrait of George V, and Tony Clayton records that the reverse was adjusted at the same time. The penny and halfpenny portraits were modified at about the same time, a change Wikipedia and Clayton link on the penny to ghosting caused by the deep relief of the head. The catalogue treats the farthings of 1926 to 1936 as one type.

Coin Hunter and Wikipedia agree on every date, together 77,363,152 coins over eleven years. Output fell through the early 1930s to 2,227,200 in 1935, the lowest George V farthing date, before recovering to 9,734,400 in 1936. 1928 was the largest year at 11,625,600.

The obverse is Bertram Mackennal's bare head of the King facing left, in its modified form, with GEORGIVS V DEI GRA: BRITT: OMN: REX FID: DEF: IND: IMP: around it and his initials B M on the truncation. The legend is unchanged from the 1910 proclamation.

The reverse remains Leonard Charles Wyon's seated Britannia with shield and trident on a rock in the sea, FARTHING above and the date below. The edge is plain. This was the last Britannia farthing: Wikipedia notes that the wren prepared for Edward VIII's pattern was used on the farthing from 1937.

Collecting notes

The low dates of 1934 and 1935 are the ones to look for in a date run, though CoinVarieties still calls the 1935 a common date and notes that proofs are rare. No recognised varieties or mint errors are documented for this type.

Farthings did not circulate as freely as the halfpenny, and the Royal Mint Museum records that they were demonetised at the end of 1960. The first George V farthing of 1911 to 1925 came before this type, and the George VI wren farthing after it.