United Kingdom | |
| Value | 4d sterling |
|---|---|
| Mass | 1.9 g |
| Diameter | 16 mm |
| Thickness | 1 mm |
| Edge | Milled |
| Composition | 92.5% Ag |
| Obverse | |
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| Design | Profile of the monarch (Victoria design shown) |
| Designer | Joseph Boehm |
| Design date | 1888 (first used on British coinage in 1887) |
| Reverse | |
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| Design | Britannia |
| Designer | William Wyon |
| Design date | 1836 |
The British fourpence coin, sometimes known as a groat, "joey" or fourpenny bit, is a silver coin worth 1⁄60 of one pound or 1⁄3 of one shilling. It is a continuation of the English groat series struck intermittently from the late 13th century until the Acts of Union in 1707.
The British groat was struck throughout the 18th century, though by 1800 it had come mostly to be coined to be given as ceremonial alms at the Royal Maundy service. It was resurrected as a circulating coin in 1836, as the Royal Mint sought to fill the gap between the penny and sixpence. The fourpence was chosen at the urging of the politician Joseph Hume, who noted that fourpence was the cab fare for short journeys. The new coin did not endear him to hackney drivers, who previously often received sixpence without a request for change, and they gave it the nickname "joey". There was also confusion between the groat and the sixpence.
In 1845, the Royal Mint began to strike the threepenny bit for circulation in Britain. The same diameter as the groat, though thinner, the threepence proved more popular, and the last groats intended for circulation in Britain were dated 1855. A final issue of fourpences, intended for use in British Guiana, was dated 1888.