English three farthing coin

Three farthing
Value3/4 of a penny
Diameter14 mm
Obverse
Reverse
DesignRoyal arms over a cross with the date above


The silver three-farthing (34d) coin was introduced in Queen Elizabeth I's third and fourth coinages (1561–1582), as part of a plan to produce large quantities of coins of varying denominations and high metal content.

The obverse shows a left-facing bust of the queen, with a rose behind her and the legend E D G ROSA SINE SPINA – Elizabeth, by the grace of God a rose without a thorn – while the reverse shows the royal arms with the date above the arms and a mint mark at the beginning of the legend reading CIVITAS LONDONCity of London, the Tower Mint.

The three-farthings coin closely resembles the three-halfpence coin, differing only in the diameter, which is 14 millimetres for an unclipped coin, compared to 16 mm for the three-halfpence.

All the coins are hammered, except for the extremely rare milled three-farthings of 1563, of which only three examples are known to exist.[1]

  1. ^ "Coins of the UK - Three Farthings". www.coins-of-the-uk.co.uk. Retrieved 2022-09-16.