THE FUTURE OF FARTHINGS

Press, Volume XCIII, Issue 27989, 8 June 1956, Page 8

THE FUTURE OF FARTHINGS

FURTHER USE FOR OLD COINS

Someone put a farthing in the collection plate at St. Mark’s Anglican Church, Remuera, about two weeks ago. A notice in the latest church newsletter, assuming that the donor mistook the coin for a sixpence, points out that the farthing has no worth in itself, and the vicar will be happy to return it to the owner without expecting a sixpence in exchange. The vicar was mistaken, however, for the new price of milk in Wellington is 4Jd a pint, and the farthing is legal tender anywhere in New Zealand. A number of farthings are owned by Mr L. Salek, of Wellington, whose father imported £25 worth through a bank early in the century. They have Edward Vll’s head on one side and Britannia on the other, and are dated 1903. Mr Salek, sen., sold toothbrushes to chemists at 8s a dozen, the price including 12 farthings; chemists then retailed them at llj-d each, every customer receiving a farthing change from a shilling. Legal tender though farthings may be, owners of them are advised not to treat them as just quarters of a penny: depending on the size of the particular mint and the condition of the coins, they could be worth far more than their face value.