1 Farthing - Victoria 2nd portrait 2nd type (1874–1895)

One row for each year the 1 Farthing - Victoria 2nd portrait – 2nd type 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 1874 1 Farthing - Victoria – 2nd type

The 1874 1 Farthing - Victoria – 2nd type is a circulating 1 farthing coin issued from 1874 to 1895, 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, date in exergue, sea behind with lighthouse on left and ship on right.

Mintage figures are recorded for 20 years between 1874 and 1895, 64,746,550 coins in all. 1892 is the scarcest date, with 887,200 struck. It is no longer legal tender (withdrawn 1960), so its value is to collectors only.

Common questions

History and design

From 1874 the bun head farthing was struck with a revised obverse. Tony Clayton, drawing on Peck, describes an older portrait with a thicker neck, aquiline nose and drapery set lower, and the reverse was retouched too. The Heaton Mint in Birmingham, contracted on occasion to supplement the Royal Mint, struck farthings with a small H below the date in 1874 to 1876, 1881 and 1882. In 1876 the London mint struck no farthings at all because of a breakdown in its machinery.

Coin Hunter's figures for 1874 to 1894 total 66,041,778. The peak was 1886 at 7,707,790. The lowest is 1875 London at 712,760, with 1892 at 887,240 next. No farthings were issued for circulation in 1877 or 1889, and 1877 exists only as a proof struck later.

The obverse is Leonard Charles Wyon's bun head portrait of Victoria with VICTORIA D: G: BRITT: REG: F: D:, now in its older form. The reverse is Wyon's seated Britannia with trident and shield, FARTHING above and the date below, a lighthouse to her left and a ship to her right. Heaton coins have H under the date.

Clayton lists the reverse dies in turn: thicker trident prongs from 1874, slight changes to the drapery in 1880, and from 1881 H a shield with the crosses heraldically coloured. The edge is plain.

Varieties and errors

The main recognised variety is the 1874 H with both Gs of the legend struck over sideways Gs. The first heraldic shield die, used for 1881 H, shows incorrect Union markings on the lower half, corrected for 1882 H. Clayton's list of die pairings, taken from Peck, is the reference for the minor obverse and reverse combinations.

Collecting notes

A date set needs both London and Heaton coins for 1875 and 1881. The 1875 without H is the date to find; 1892 and 1883 are next. Look closely at the legend on any 1874 H for the G over G variety.

The type follows the first bun head farthing of 1860 to 1873 and gave way in 1895 to the Old Head farthing.