4 Pence - Victoria 1st portrait (1837–1862)

One row for each year the 4 Pence - 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 1837 4 Pence - Victoria

The 1837 4 Pence - Victoria is a circulating 4 pence coin issued from 1837 to 1862, struck in 92.5% silver. It weighs 1.89g and measures 16mm across. Reverse design: Seated figure of Britannia right, trident in left hand, shield with Union flag in right, denomination around, date in exergue.

Mintage figures are recorded for 17 years between 1838 and 1855, 14,829,700 coins in all. 1853 is the scarcest date, with 11,800 struck. It is no longer legal tender, so its value is to collectors only.

Common questions

History and design

The fourpence was revived as a circulating coin in 1836, under William IV, to fill the gap between the penny and the sixpence. Wikipedia records that the MP Joseph Hume pressed for it, noting that fourpence was the London cab fare for a short journey. Drivers who had been handed a sixpence and kept the change disliked the new coin and called it the joey. Victoria's portrait replaced William's from 1838.

Output was healthy at first. Wikipedia's figures, from the Coincraft catalogue, and Coin Hunter's agree on 2,150,280 for 1838 and on most dates to 1849. Then the threepence, struck for circulation in Britain from 1845, took over: it had the same 16 mm diameter, and Wikipedia notes the last groats meant for British circulation were dated 1855. The 1853 groat, at 11,880, is the lowest figure of the series. Proofs only were struck for 1857 and 1862.

William Wyon, Chief Engraver, designed both sides. The obverse carries his Young Head of the Queen, the portrait that the Royal Mint Museum calls his most famous work, with the legend VICTORIA D G BRITANNIAR REGINA F D.

The reverse is Wyon's seated Britannia of 1836, holding a trident and resting her hand on a shield bearing the Union flag, with FOUR PENCE around and the date below. It echoes the Britannia of the copper penny. The coin is sterling silver, 1.9 g, and its milled edge set it apart from the plain-edged threepence.

Varieties and errors

Tony Clayton picks out the 1838 date with the last 8 punched over an 8 lying on its side. Coin Hunter and Clayton also list overdates for 1842, 1843, 1847, 1848, 1849 and 1855, and CoinVarieties notes that the 1855 figure includes the 5 over 3.

Collecting notes

Clayton calls the 1851 to 1853 groats quite scarce, and the 1853 is the date most collectors look for. Check the 1851 and 1852 attributions carefully, since references disagree about which year the larger figure belongs to. Wikipedia notes the groat stayed popular in Scotland and circulated there long after it had faded elsewhere, so worn examples are common.

Do not confuse this coin with the Maundy fourpence of the same years, which has a crowned 4 on the reverse. A final Britannia groat with the Jubilee Head was struck in 1888 for British Guiana: see the 1888 colonial fourpence.