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Farthings struck in the
Commonwealth and States of the former British Empire

The coins of Great Britain were used throughout much of the Empire and the British Colonies. However, a few states states either had farthings struck for them that differed from those of Great Britain, or adopted the denomination for their own use. The above coins were all issued as farthings in name with the exception of Jersey. The island of Jersey is included in the list above although the coins were not actually called farthings but were rather denominated in terms of the shilling. At the time when 13 pence equalled a shilling, the coin valued at 1/52 shilling is listed as a farthing. Later, when the more common rate of 12 pence to the shilling was adopted, the coin valued at 1/48 shilling is listed as a farthing. The penny of the Ionian Islands of Greece was also worth 10 oboli, thus the farthing struck there was equivalent to 2½ Oboli. It is included above because the coins were called penny, halfpenny, farthing, in the Treasury letter of 11th February 1819 which ordered their striking.

A few additional countries have struck coins that could be considered farthings, though are not called such. These would include countries like Cyprus where 9 Piastres equalled a Shilling and a coin equal to a quarter piastre was struck (in Great Britain 12 Pence equalled a shilling, so the Piastre of Cyprus and the Penny of Great Britain were similar) The 2-Double coin of Guernsey is included because 8 Doubles were equal to a Penny, and 12 Pence equal to a Shilling, etc. So, even though called by another name, the 2-Double coin is also considered a farthing.

Though not included here, another example would be the Straits Settlements or Malaysia. Here the East India Company and Britain, itself, struck a coin the size of a farthing, but it was a quarter cent with 100 cents being equivalent to a dollar.

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