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Fourpence (British coin)

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This article is about the silver coin minted for general circulation. For the silver coin minted for Maundy Money, see Royal Maundy. For other coins called "groat", see Groat (coin).
Fourpence
United Kingdom
Value4d sterling
Mass1.9 g
Diameter16 mm
Thickness1 mm
EdgeMilled
Composition92.5% Ag
Years of minting1836–1855, 1888
Obverse
DesignProfile of the monarch (Victoria design shown)
DesignerJoseph Boehm
Design date1888
Reverse
DesignBritannia
DesignerWilliam Wyon
Design date1836

The British fourpence coin, sometimes known as a groat (from Dutch grootpennig = "big penny") or fourpenny bit, was a denomination of sterling coinage worth 1/60 of one pound or 1/3 of one shilling. The coin was also known as a joey after the MP Joseph Hume, who spoke in favour of its introduction.[1][2] It was a revival of the pre-Union coin.

Before Decimal Day in 1971, sterling used the Carolingian monetary system, under which the largest unit was a pound divided into 20 shillings, each of 12 pence.

Early issues[edit]

The fourpence, or groat (from the French gros or Italian grosso, meaning great or thick) was first struck by Edward I as part of his currency reforms, as a larger silver coin that could be used in foreign trade. Whilst it proved unpopular as merchants preferred payment in silver pennies (the groat weighed less than four of the smaller coins), it was successfully reintroduced by Edward III and was struck by most monarchs thereafter until Queen Victoria.[3]

Beginning with the restoration of Charles II in 1660, English coins were generally struck by machine, including the groat. Since, from 1689, groats bore a crowned numeral 4 similar to that still used on the Maundy money fourpence, groats are often referred to as Maundy fourpences, or sold in sets of four with the silver penny, twopence and threepence of that year. This is done despite the fact that the groat was never used as part of the Royal Maundy charity distributions until the reign of George III. Prior to that, only the silver penny and the occasional twopence were used.[4]

The first groats following the union of England and Scotland in 1707 were struck the following year, continuing the series depicting Queen Anne which had begun in 1703. They were designed by either John Croker or his assistant Samuel Bull, and depicted a left-facing bust of Anne on the obverse with the inscription ANNA DEI GRATIA (Anne by the grace of God ...) and on the reverse a crowned numeral 4, the date, and the inscription MAG BR FR ET HIB REG (short for "... of Great Britain, France and Ireland the Queen"). The coin was struck again in 1709, and then with a larger 4 in 1710 and 1713.[5]

Croker and/or Bull designed the groat for George I, though Johann Rudolph Ochs Snr may have designed the reverse. These were struck dated 1717, 1721, 1723 and 1727 with the obverse bearing a head of King George facing right with the inscription GEORGIUS DEI GRA (short for "George by the Grace of God ...). The reverse depicted the crowned 4 with the date and the inscription MAG BRI FR ET HIB REX (short for "of Great Britain France and Ireland the King). Unlike the larger silver coins, the groat made no reference to George's Hanoverian titles, though there probably was not room for them.[6]

The groat of George II was by Croker, and bore a left-facing bust of the King, with identical inscriptions but for the roman numeral II added after GEORGIUS. Though most denominations of coins transitioned in 1743 to a new portrait by John Sigismund Tanner, the fact that the groat was infrequently-struck meant that it was kept for the groat, and was even issued in 1760, the year of George's death, even though the last of the Tanner-designed coins were struck in 1758.[7]

The groat of George III bears similar inscriptions to that of his predecessor, with only the regnal number changed on the obverse, where there is a right-facing bust of the King. Infrequently struck during George's reign, his groat bears three different designs. The first, struck from 1763 to 1786, may have been by Richard Yeo, and saw slight modifications to the reverse in 1784 and 1786. The second, with a modified bust of King George and a narrow numeral 4 which has led it to be termed "wire money". This was only issued dated 1792; the issues for 1795 and 1800 are similar to the 1786 coins, though with a very different crown. The third, by Benedetto Pistrucci in 1817, moved the date to the obverse and changed the legend on the reverse to BRITANNIAUM REX FID DEF ( ... King of the Britains, Defender of the Faith}. Later-date George III pieces are more likely to be found in better condition and are likely to have been presented at the Royal Maundy ceremony, as are all subsequent fourpences with a crowned 4, though some entered circulation after being presented to the Maundy recipients.[8]

Britannia issues[edit]

In the 1830s, the Royal Mint considered what changes were necessary to the coinage system, which had seen extensive modification in the Great Recoinage of 1816. There was then no coin intended for circulation in the United Kingdom between the penny and the sixpence, and increasing the circulation of one of the denominations struck as Maundy money seemed an obvious solution.[9]

Joseph Hume, the Radical MP for Middlesex, advocated that the groat be issued for circulation. Fourpence was the hackney fare for up to half a mile (.8 km), Hume pointed out.[9] The Royal Mint concurred that a groat should be issued, defending it as not too small, would ease the making of payments between sixpence and a shilling (twelve pence), and might even lead to a drop in prices.[10]

King William IV issued a proclamation making the new groat legal tender on 3 February 1836.[11] The new coin was designed by William Wyon.[12] and had a right-facing bust of King William, with the inscription GULIELMUS IIII D G BRITANNIAR REX F D (short for "William iV, by the grace of God, King of the Britains, defender of the faith"). On the reverse, it had the date and the inscription FOUR PENCE, around an image of Britannia, holding a trident in one hand, and with the other on a shield bearing a Union cross.{{ref name = "proclamation" />}} It was thus similar in design to the penny, as issued since 1797.[13]

The Preston Chronicle and Lancashire Advertiser deemed the new coin an experimental issue, and noted that with its issuance, any even number of pence could be paid with silver coins, even twopence as a sixpence could receive a groat in change.[14] The Bristol Mirror saw this as an advantage, noting that the current coinage only allowed for exact change in silver for multiples of a sixpence. They suggested that the new groat would allow travellers to tip in silver when a sixpence is deemed too much.[15]

Groats were available by application at the Royal Mint, in place of the usual procedure whereby silver coins were circulated through the Bank of England.[10] In Manchester, though, the banks refused to pay out more than eight shillings' worth of groats for ten shillings, deducting the cost of carriage.[16]

Reaction, later issues and colonial striking[edit]

The new coin proved unpopular with cab drivers as they now simply received a fourpence as payment, whereas previously they would often receive a sixpence without a demand for change.[12] The angry hackney drivers derided the groat, nicknaming it a "joey".[9] It was also confused with the sixpence. Soon after its release, Mr Viner, a butcher of Lambeth Walk took nine of the groats under the misapprehension they were sixpences. Omnibus owner George Shillibeer stated that one of his conductors had taken 47 of them for sixpences, apparently passed by merchants and their clerks in the evening whilst returning to their homes in Clapham.[17]

The groat was struck bearing William IV's bust in 1836 and 1837, the latter being the year in which he died. Beginning in 1838, the coin bore the portrait, by Wyon, of Queen Victoria, with the obverse inscription of VICTORIA D G BRITANNIAR F D (Victoria, by the Grace of God, Queen of the Britains, defender of the faith). It was struck with Wyon's portrait of Victoria each year until 1849, then from 1850 to 1855, and 1857 and 1862, though the final two issues and the 1853 were only as proof coins for collectors.[18]

The threepence was introduced as a circulating coin in Britain in 1845 to "afford additional convenience for the purpose of change".[10] The threepence was the same diameter as the groat, and the two coins could not co-exist, though the groat was somewhat thicker and had a milled edge to the threepence's smooth edge. No groats intended for circulation in Britain were struck after 1855. The groat was more popular in Scotland than in England or Wales, and circulated there for many years after it ceased to elsewhere in Great Britain.[12]

In 1888, a special issue of groats was made for British Guiana, where they continued to circulate as the equivalent of a quarter guilder, and were the most important coin in commerce. These were struck with Wyon's reverse design and the bust of Victoria that had first been issued in 1887, known as the Jubilee head, by Joseph Boehm. Although valid in Britain, they were intended only for use in British Guiana and the West Indies.[19] These coins, with a total face value of £2,000 (and so a mintage of 120,000), were struck at the special request of the Government of British Guiana, which stated that they were badly needed in the colony, where they were widely used to pay for labour, could not be obtained through the Bank of England, and would be unlikely to return to Britain in any quantity.[20]

Design[edit]

The original reverse of the 1836 version of the coin, designed by William Wyon, is a seated Britannia, holding a trident, with the words FOUR PENCE to each side. Two different obverses were used during the mintage of this coin. Wyon's likeness of William IV appeared in 1836 and 1837, surrounded by the inscription GULIELMUS IIII D G BRITANNIAR REX F D.[21] Groats bearing the likeness of Victoria were issued from late 1837 onwards, also designed by Wyon, with the inscription VICTORIA D G BRITANNIAR REGINA F D. Those fourpences minted in 1888 bear the "jubilee head" of Victoria, designed by Joseph Boehm – the reverse is unchanged.[22]

There also exists a pattern coin, dated 1836, which bears the same obverse as the William IV issue coins, but has a different reverse, designed by William Wyon, which has the inscription 4p instead of the words FOUR PENCE.[23]

Mintages[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ David L. Gold (2009). Studies in Etymology and Etiology: With Emphasis on Germanic, Jewish, Romance and Slavic Languages. Universidad de Alicante. p. 177. ISBN 978-84-7908-517-9.
  2. ^ C.G. Leland (1897). A Dictionary of Slang, Jargon & Cant. Рипол Классик. p. 121. ISBN 978-5-87681-228-5.
  3. ^ Lobel, p. 259.
  4. ^ Lobel, p. 553.
  5. ^ Lobel, pp. 418, 554.
  6. ^ Lobel, pp. 554–555.
  7. ^ Lobel, p. 555.
  8. ^ Lobel, pp. 555–556.
  9. ^ a b c Craig, p. 311.
  10. ^ a b c Dyer & Gaspar, p. 487.
  11. ^ "No. 19353". The London Gazette. 5 February 1836. p. 223.
  12. ^ a b c Lobel, p. 559.
  13. ^ Lobel, pp. 583–584.
  14. ^ "Silver groats". The Preston Chronicle and Lancashire Advertiser. 6 February 1836. p. 4. Retrieved 10 June 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ^ "New silver currency". The Bristol Chronicle Mirror. 23 January 1836. p. 1. Retrieved 10 June 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. ^ "Silver groats". Manchester Courier and Lancashire General Advertiser. 2 April 1836. Retrieved 10 June 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. ^ "The groats and the sixpences". Stockport Advertiser. 1 April 1836. p. 2. Retrieved 10 June 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  18. ^ Spink, pp. 522–523.
  19. ^ "Coin - 4 Pence, British Guiana & West Indies, 1888". Museums Victoria. Retrieved 10 June 2024.
  20. ^ Template:Last=Fremantle
  21. ^ a b "William IV coins". Coin database. Retrieved 20 May 2014.
  22. ^ a b "Victoria coins". Coin database. Retrieved 20 May 2014.
  23. ^ Nicholas Carlisle; William Wyon (1837). A memoir of the life and works of William Wyon. W. Nichol. p. 111.

Bibliography[edit]

  • Craig, John (2010) [1953]. The Mint (paperback ed.). Cambridge, United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-17077-2.
  • Dyer, G.P.; Gaspar, P.P. (1992). "Reform, the New Technology and Tower Hill". In Challis, C.E. (ed.). A New History of the Royal Mint. Cambridge, United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press. pp. 398–606. ISBN 978-0-521-24026-0.
  • Freeman, Michael J. (1985) [1970]. The Bronze Coinage of Great Britain (revised ed.). London: Barrie & Jenkins Ltd. ISBN 978-0-09-155240-4.
  • Linecar, H.W.A. (1977). British Coin Designs and Designers. London: G. Bell & Sons Ltd. ISBN 978-0-7135-1931-0.
  • Lobel, Richard, ed. (1999) [1995]. Coincraft's Standard Catalogue English & UK Coins 1066 to Date (5th ed.). London: Standard Catalogue Publishers Ltd. ISBN 978-0-9526228-8-8.
  • Peck, C. Wilson (1960). English Copper, Tin and Bronze Coins in the British Museum 1558–1958. London: Trustees of the British Museum. OCLC 906173180.
  • Rodgers, Kerry (December 2016). "Fiji's World War II Emergency Reserve Bank of New Zealand Overprints". Coin News: 75–79.
  • Seaby, Peter (1985). The Story of British Coinage. London: B. A. Seaby Ltd. ISBN 978-0-900652-74-5.

External links[edit]

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