1 Farthing - George VI without 'IND:IMP' (1949–1952)

One row for each year the 1 Farthing - George VI without 'IND:IMP' 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 1949 1 Farthing - George VI without 'IND:IMP'

The 1949 1 Farthing - George VI without 'IND:IMP' is a circulating 1 farthing coin issued from 1949 to 1952, struck in bronze. It weighs 2.83g and measures 20mm across. Reverse design: Eurasian wren left (Troglodytes troglodytes), date above and denomination below (from the Greek 'troglodytes' meaning cave-dweller).

Mintage figures are recorded for 4 years between 1949 and 1952, 38,016,000 coins in all. 1952 is the scarcest date, with 5,251,200 struck. It is no longer legal tender (withdrawn 1960), so its value is to collectors only.

Common questions

History and design

India's independence in 1947 changed the King's title. The Gazette records that a royal proclamation of 22 June 1948 directed that the Latin words Indiae Imperator be omitted wherever his style and titles were used. On the coinage the change came with the 1949 dies, and from that year the farthing's legend ends FIDEI DEF in place of F:D:IND:IMP.

Coin Hunter and Wikipedia agree on all four dates of this type, totalling 38,016,000 coins: 8,424,000 in 1949, 10,324,800 in 1950, 14,016,000 in 1951 and 5,251,200 in 1952. The 1952 figure is the lowest of any George VI farthing. Tony Clayton records that the King died on 6 February 1952, and the wren carried on under Elizabeth II until the last farthings were struck in 1956.

The obverse keeps Thomas Humphrey Paget's portrait of George VI facing left, an effigy the Royal Mint Museum notes has been described as the classic coinage head of the 20th century. Only the legend changed, now reading GEORGIVS VI D:G:BR:OMN:REX FIDEI DEF.

The reverse is Harold Wilson Parker's wren, unchanged from 1937, with the date above the bird and FARTHING below. The 1937 proclamation, which set the reverse for the reign, describes it as the representation of a wren with the word FARTHING and the date. The edge is plain.

Collecting notes

Every date is common in circulated grades, with 1952 and 1949 the lowest figures. Proof sets were issued in 1950 for the middle of the century and in 1951 for the Festival of Britain, each including a farthing. Tony Clayton notes that many sets were broken up, and that the cardboard in the cases has caused corrosion on some coins, so check proof surfaces closely.

Farthings were demonetised at the end of 1960. The earlier type, with IND IMP, is the George VI farthing of 1937 to 1948.