{{short description|Former piece of British coinage}} {{one source|date=March 2023}} {{Infobox coin | Country = United Kingdom | Denomination = One-quarter farthing | Value = £0.00026041{{overline|6}}<br />0.0625''d'' | Unit = | Mass = 1.2 | Diameter = 13.5 | Thickness = | Edge = Plain | Composition = (1839–1853) copper<br/>(1868) bronze | Years of Minting = 1839, 1851–1853, 1868 | Catalog Number = | Obverse = 1868 Quarter Farthing obverse.png | Obverse Design = Queen Victoria | Obverse Designer = William Wyon | Obverse Design Date = 1839 | Reverse = 1868 Quarter Farthing reverse.png | Reverse Design = Crown and rose | Reverse Design Date = 1839 }}
The '''quarter farthing''' was a British coin worth {{frac|1|3840}} of a pound, {{frac|1|192}} of a shilling, or {{frac||1|16}} of a penny. The Royal Mint issued the coins in copper for exclusive use in British Ceylon in 1839, 1851, 1852, and 1853.<ref name="Peck415">{{Harvnb|Peck|1960|p=415}}</ref> The mint also produced bronze proofs in 1868.<ref name="Peck416">{{Harvnb|Peck|1960|p=416}}</ref>
The obverse of the coins used William Wyon's obverse die for the Maundy twopence, bearing a left-facing portrait of Queen Victoria and the legend {{small|VICTORIA D: G: BRITANNIAR: REGINA F: D:}}.<ref name="Peck415"/> Wyon designed the reverse to feature a royal crown above the words {{small|QUARTER FARTHING}} and the date. Below the date, the coins featured a heraldic rose with three leaves on either side.<ref name="Peck415"/> The coins were made of copper, weighed 1.2 gramme, and had a diameter of 13.5 millimetres.<ref name="Peck415"/> The mint struck proof quarter farthings in bronze and copper-nickel in 1868, but did not issue any quarter farthings for circulation that year.<ref name="Peck416"/>
While quarter farthings were never legal tender in the United Kingdom,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.royalmintmuseum.org.uk/journal/curators-corner/fractional-farthings/ |title=Fractional Farthings|year=2013 |publisher=Royal Mint Museum}}</ref> they are fractions of the British farthing, which was currency in Ceylon, and traditionally have been catalogued as British coinage.<ref>{{Harvnb|Peck|1960|p=391}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
===Sources=== *{{cite book |title=English Copper, Tin and Bronze Coins in the British Museum: 1558–1958 |last=Peck |first=C. Wilson |year=1960 |publisher=Trustees of the British Museum |location=London}}
{{Portal|Money|Numismatics|United Kingdom}} {{British coinage}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Quarter farthing}}
Category:Coins of Sri Lanka Category:Coins of the United Kingdom Category:Pre-decimalisation coins of the United Kingdom