1 Farthing - Victoria 1st portrait (1838–1864)

One row for each year the 1 Farthing - Victoria 1st portrait 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 1838 1 Farthing - Victoria

The 1838 1 Farthing - Victoria is a circulating 1 farthing coin issued from 1838 to 1864, struck in copper. It weighs 4.72g and measures 22mm across. Reverse design: Seated figure of Britannia right, trident in left hand, shield with Union flag in right hand, legend around, national flower emblems in exergue.

Mintage figures are recorded for 22 years between 1838 and 1859, 47,068,780 coins in all. 1844 is the scarcest date, with 430,000 struck. It is no longer legal tender (withdrawn 1869), so its value is to collectors only.

Common questions

History and design

Victoria came to the throne in 1837, and the Royal Mint Museum records that her first coins reached circulation in the summer of 1838. Farthings in copper were struck every year from 1838 to 1860, keeping the 22 mm, 4.72 g standard set in 1821. By 1857 a Mint survey found about a third of the copper coinage worn or defaced, and in 1860 a lighter bronze coinage replaced it. Copper farthings were demonetised on 31 December 1869, though Tony Clayton notes they could be exchanged until 30 July 1873.

Coin Hunter's figures for 1838 to 1859 total 47,069,628. The busiest year was 1854 at 6,504,960. The lowest were 1844 and 1850 at 430,080 each, then 1838 at 591,360 and 1849 at 645,120. No figure is published for 1860, when most farthings were struck in bronze, and Clayton describes the copper 1860 as rare.

The obverse is William Wyon's Young Head of Victoria facing left, with VICTORIA DEI GRATIA around, the date below and W.W. on the truncation. The Royal Mint Museum says this 1838 portrait takes pride of place among Wyon's likenesses of the Queen, and that she kept it on her coins until she was in her late sixties.

The reverse shows Britannia seated facing right with trident and shield, BRITANNIAR: REG: FID: DEF: around, and a rose, thistle and shamrock below. No denomination appears: Clayton points out that farthings did not carry their value until the bronze issue of 1860. The design continues the farthing Wyon introduced in 1826.

Varieties and errors

Clayton records three obverses: W.W. raised (1838 to 1849), a raised version with the head set closer to the legend (1850 to 1853 and 1855), and W.W. incuse (1853 to 1860). Both of the later types exist for 1853 and 1855. Recognised errors include 1851 with the D of DEI over a sideways D, and 1856 with the R of VICTORIA over E. Clayton lists an 1843 with no serifs on the 1, which Coin Hunter calls I for 1. He notes there are few overdates, and suggests this is because obverse dies were shared with the sovereign.

Collecting notes

CoinVarieties notes that most dates are readily available in circulated condition, so condition matters more than date for most of the series. For a date run, 1844, 1850 and 1849 are the dates to look for, and the copper 1860 is the hardest of all. An 1860 farthing with the date under the portrait and no FARTHING on the reverse is the copper coin; check this, since the bronze 1860 is common.

Proofs are known for 1839, 1841 and 1853, and the Mint also struck bronzed 1839 proofs. The successor is the bronze bun head farthing of 1860.