Great Britain 1739 farthing

Heritage sale 3020, lot 23994

photo courtesy Heritage Auction Galleries

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.

Source:

• 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:

• 1737 farthing
• Ireland 1737 farthing
• 1739 half penny
• 1739 sixpence
• 1739 shilling
• 1739 crown
• 1739 half guinea, no symbol
• 1739 guinea
• 1739-EIC guinea
• 1739 2 guineas
• 1741 farthing
• Coins and currency dated 1739
• return to cons of Great Britain