# What was the smallest English coin by face value? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 10, 2013, 10:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-smallest-english-coin-by-face-value/675965 "2013-12-10T10:23:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![blindboyard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blindboyard/32/2833_2.png) [@blindboyard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blindboyard)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2013, 10:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-smallest-english-coin-by-face-value/675965/1 "2013-12-10T10:23:32Z")
I had assumed it was the farthing, worth a quarter of a penny and 1/960 of a pound, but then I saw a half farthing. And then a third of a farthing. So how low did it go? ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2013, 10:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-smallest-english-coin-by-face-value/675965/2 "2013-12-10T10:38:52Z")
According to the respective Wikipedia articles, the [half farthing](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Half_farthing_%28British_coin%29) and [quarter farthing](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quarter_farthing_%28British_coin%29) were minted for use in Ceylon, while the [third farthing](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_farthing_%28British_coin%29) was minted for use in Malta. They seem to be the smallest denomination British coins, but the smallest coin circulated in GB or the UK was the farthing (which I remember seeing and using as a young boy in England). ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2013, 10:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-smallest-english-coin-by-face-value/675965/3 "2013-12-10T10:40:31Z")
The half farthing was the smallest one that was legal tender in Britain. There were third and quarter farthings, but they only circulated in Malta and Ceylon ([cite](http://www.royalmintmuseum.org.uk/coins/british-coinage/old-denominations/fractional-farthings/index.html)). ---
**Author:** ![Isilder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/cc9497/32.png) [@Isilder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isilder)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2013, 11:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-smallest-english-coin-by-face-value/675965/4 "2013-12-10T11:05:39Z")
> [@blindboyard](#): > > I had assumed it was the farthing, worth a quarter of a penny and 1/960 of a pound, but then I saw a half farthing. And then a third of a farthing. So how low did it go? Down to quarter farthing. Minted only in Ceylon (half farthings were for Ceylon too, originally.) One third farthings were made for Malta originally. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2013, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-smallest-english-coin-by-face-value/675965/5 "2013-12-10T14:07:28Z")
When you get an answer, I have a bottle I can sell you. ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2013, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-smallest-english-coin-by-face-value/675965/6 "2013-12-10T16:09:29Z")
How low can you get? 0.125d ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2013, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-smallest-english-coin-by-face-value/675965/7 "2013-12-10T17:12:49Z")
There were 38393838393777 bangermashquidditchthruppencehaynonnynonnyperthshingles to the Royal Gold Imperial Sterling Emperor Crown Scepter. That’s what drove Newton mad when he was Master of the Royal Mint. “There’s a bangermashquidditchthruppencehaynonnynonnyperthshingle missing,” he would cry. “And it doesn’t taste like mint. Wintergreen, maybe.” ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2013, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-smallest-english-coin-by-face-value/675965/8 "2013-12-10T17:15:22Z")
On the other hand you could probably purchase something in a store for a half farthing. Now with inflation is there anything you can purchase if you have just one pence? ---
**Author:** ![Kiyoshi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e19adc/32.png) [@Kiyoshi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kiyoshi)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2013, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-smallest-english-coin-by-face-value/675965/9 "2013-12-10T23:37:57Z")
> [@PastTense](#): > > On the other hand you could probably purchase something in a store for a half farthing. Now with inflation is there anything you can purchase if you have just one pence? I don’t think a half-farthing could actually buy anything. When the coin was produced, between 1828 to 1856, it had the same purchasing power as £0.04 today (according to the Retail Price Index). So it was pretty worthless. But not as worthless as a modern penny. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2013, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-smallest-english-coin-by-face-value/675965/10 "2013-12-10T23:51:04Z")
> [@Kiyoshi](#): > > I don’t think a half-farthing could actually buy anything. When the coin was produced, between 1828 to 1856, it had the same purchasing power as £0.04 today (according to the Retail Price Index). So it was pretty worthless. But not as worthless as a modern penny. Back in the 1960s, I could (and frequently did) purchase something for one farthing: namely a single Blackjack or Fruit Salad chewy sweet. Given inflation, I think it is safe to infer that a hundred years before that there were things that could be purchased for a half-farthing. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2013, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-smallest-english-coin-by-face-value/675965/11 "2013-12-10T23:52:56Z")
> [@Kiyoshi](#): > > I don’t think a half-farthing could actually buy anything. When the coin was produced, between 1828 to 1856, it had the same purchasing power as £0.04 today (according to the Retail Price Index). So it was pretty worthless. But not as worthless as a modern penny. £0.04 is actually 4p. This won’t buy you much, but is worth exactly 4 times as much as 1p. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2013, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-smallest-english-coin-by-face-value/675965/12 "2013-12-11T00:15:08Z")
I think you misread. The statement is that half a farthing in 1828-1856 is the same as 4p today, that is 32x the amount has the same purchasing power. As for what a penny can buy, I think there are still sweets that can be bought for 1p each. ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2013, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-smallest-english-coin-by-face-value/675965/13 "2013-12-11T01:25:11Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > When you get an answer, I have a bottle I can sell you. Now _there’s_ an obscure reference. My English Literature class read “The Bottle Imp” in my senior year in high school. I still remember the centimes. (Incidentally, I’m now reading _The Three Musketeers_, and am having to find out all sorts of trivia about pre-French-revolution French money. I wonder how much a centime was, in relation to a sou.) ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2013, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-smallest-english-coin-by-face-value/675965/14 "2013-12-11T01:31:32Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > I think you misread. The statement is that half a farthing in 1828-1856 is the same as 4p today, that is 32x the amount has the same purchasing power. I think you forgot to take decimalization into account. If a half-farthing in 1856 had the same purchasing power as 4 pre-decimalization pence (i.e. 4d), that would indeed be a 32x decrease in purchasing power. A modern penny, however, is 1/100 of a pound sterling, not 1/240. If a half-farthing in 1856 has the same purchasing power as 4 modern pence (i.e. 4p), that represents a 76.8x decrease in purchasing power. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2013, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-smallest-english-coin-by-face-value/675965/15 "2013-12-11T04:25:59Z")
Huh? I’m confused. Start with the answer to the question as to what exactly was the decline in purchasing power for the British pound from 1856 to today? Then do the math for the fractional units. ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2013, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-smallest-english-coin-by-face-value/675965/16 "2013-12-11T06:51:30Z")
What Kiyoshi said was that the half-farthing “had the same purchasing power as £0.04 today.” A half-farthing is an eighth of a pre-decimalization penny (0.125d). This would make it £0.000520833333… . £0.04 divided by £0.000520833333… is 76.8. Therefore, the half-farthing had 76.8 times as much purchasing power back then as it would if it were still around today. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2013, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-smallest-english-coin-by-face-value/675965/17 "2013-12-11T14:48:00Z")
If I may be pedantic (and I’m pretty sure I can), I’d like to remind folks that there is no such thing as a pence. Pence is plural for penny: two pence, one penny. ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2013, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-smallest-english-coin-by-face-value/675965/18 "2013-12-11T15:43:33Z")
Well, that makes cents. ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2013, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-smallest-english-coin-by-face-value/675965/19 "2013-12-11T16:24:14Z")
> [@commasense](#): > > If I may be pedantic (and I’m pretty sure I can), I’d like to remind folks that there is no such thing as a pence. Pence is plural for penny: two pence, one penny. Also note that the British penny is both a unit of account as well as a physical coin worth one penny. When speaking about US money, the term “penny” refers solely to the physical coin that is worth one US cent (i.e. $0.01 USD) and that was nicknamed a “penny” due to its original similarity with the British penny of times gone by. Americans pluralize the word as “pennies” and use the plural to mean more than one of the physical penny coins. E.g. if you have a dime, you cannot just say that, “I have ten pennies”, because you don’t. You can exchange them for ten pennies, but right now you have ten _cents_ in non-pennies. On another interesting note, Decimalization in the UK seems to have destroyed the usage of creative and slang terms for coins and quantities of money. The old system had [lots of colorful terms](http://gwydir.demon.co.uk/jo/units/money.htm). Now it is just 5p, 10p, 50p, etc. The US decimalized very early and many old terms from the 1700’s and 1800’s are still commonly used. E.g. we still have “nickels”. One term that may be dying, however, is “two bits” to mean the monetary amount of 25 cents. This was based on Spanish/Mexican coinage and stuck around after they stopped circulating in the US, but it seems to be dying now because there is very little you can buy for just two bits anymore. ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2013, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-smallest-english-coin-by-face-value/675965/20 "2013-12-11T17:17:29Z")
> [@commasense](#): > > If I may be pedantic (and I’m pretty sure I can), I’d like to remind folks that there is no such thing as a pence. Pence is plural for penny: two pence, one penny. Yes indeed. I think the trouble started at decimalisation, when you had the “pence people” and the “pee people”. No-one ever called a penny in the old money “one dee” even though it was written 1d., but the term “one pee” crept in to distinguish one new penny from one old one. And then since the familiar terms “tuppence”, “thruppence”, “a tanner” and so on weren’t applicable to the new money, the “pence people” were very precise about referring to “two pence”, “five pence” etc where the old unit would have been “p@nce” with a schwa, and this led to people talking about “one pence” as a hypercorrection even though the coin was quite clearly marked “1 new penny” to begin with and “one penny” after a few years. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-smallest-english-coin-by-face-value/675965.md?page=2)