Great Britain 1739 farthing
This specimen was lot 23994 in Heritage sale 3020 (Long Beach, September 2012), where it sold for $587.50. The catalog description[1] noted, "George II Farthing 1739, Young Head, MS65 BN NGC, soft details in the king's hair but still a really exquisite gem of a farthing, surfaces near perfection for a copper, the color a rich chocolate brown with tinges of mint red luster and lovely bluish hues covering all." This type is listed for 1730-39 and is fairly common in worn condition. The mint did not produce near enough small change for the industrial boom of the eighteenth century, leading to a proliferation of private tokens. The situation would not be rectified until the reform of 1817.
Recorded mintage: unknown but not rare.
Specification: 4.93 g, copper, 23 mm diameter, plain edge.
Catalog reference: S-3720, KM 572.
- Lobel, Richard, Mark Davidson, Allan Hailstone and Eleni Calligas, Coincraft's Standard Catalogue of English and UK Coins, 1066 to Date, London: Coincraft, 1995.
- Skingley, Philip, ed., Standard Catalogue of British Coins: Coins of England & the United Kingdom, 46th edition, London: Spink & Son, 2011.
- [1]Tucker, Warren, and Cris Bierrenbach, Heritage Signature Auction 3020: World Coins, Dallas, TX: Heritage Auction Galleries, 2012.
- Michael, Thomas, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1701-1800, 7th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2016.
- Freeman, Michael J., The Bronze Coinage of Great Britain, Rev. Ed., London: Spink & Son, 2006.
- Peck, C. Wilson, English Copper, Tin and Bronze Coins in the British Museum, 1558-1958, 2nd Ed., London: Oxford University Press, 1970.
Link to: