Great Britain 1956 farthing
This specimen was lot 51125 in Stack's Bowers ANA sale (Pittsburgh, PA, August 2023), where it sold for $840. The catalog description[1] noted, "GREAT BRITAIN. Farthing, 1956. London Mint. Elizabeth II. PCGS PROOF-63 Red Brown. Despite a bit of mottling to the red-brown color, this Choice specimen presents a razor sharp strike and exceptional brilliance, and stands as the only such proof Farthing of the date seen at PCGS." Altho 40,000 proof sets were made and sold in 1953, the proofs of the rest of the decade are all rare. The obverse legend was revised in 1954 to drop "BRITT:OMN:" and the farthing was terminated in 1956.
Recorded mintage: 1,997,000 plus a few proofs.
Specification: 2.8 g, bronze, 20 mm diameter, plain edge.
Catalog reference: S-4159; KM-895.
- Bressett, Kenneth E., A Guide Book of English Coins, Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries, 2nd Ed., Racine, WI: Whitman Publishing, 1962.
- Lobel, Richard, Mark Davidson, Allan Hailstone and Eleni Calligas, Coincraft's Standard Catalogue of English and UK Coins, 1066 to Date, London: Coincraft, 1995.
- Michael, Thomas, and Tracy L. Schmidt, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1901-2000, 47th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2019.
- Skingley, Philip, ed., Standard Catalogue of British Coins: Coins of England & the United Kingdom, 46th edition, London: Spink & Son, 2011.
- [1]Orsini, Matt, Kyle Ponterio and Jeremy Bostwick, August 2023 Global Showcase Auction, World & Ancient Coins, Costa Mesa, CA: Stack's Bowers Galleries, Inc., 2023.
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