Farthing (British coin) Farthing (British coin) The British farthing (d) coin, from "fourthing", was a unit of currency of one quarter of a penny, or of a pound sterling. It was minted in bronze, and replaced the earlier copper farthings. It was used during the reign of six monarchs: Victoria, Edward VII, George V, Edward VIII, George VI and Elizabeth II, ceasing to be legal tender in 1960. It featured two different designs on its reverse during its 100 years in circulation: from 1860 until 1936, the image of Britannia; and from 1937 onwards, the image of a wren. Like all British coinage,
Cultural depictions of George VI to explain why he would not leave Britain for any safe zone, namely Canada, during World War II. George is a significant character in Michael Dobbs' 2003 novel "Winston's War", and Len Deighton's alternate history novel "SS-GB", in which he is imprisoned during a Nazi occupation of Britain and killed during an escape attempt. In the alternate history novel "Fatherland" by Robert Harris, George VI was deposed when Nazi Germany conquered the United Kingdom and the British Empire in the early 1940s. Most of the Royal Family were forced into exile in Canada and his elder brother Edward VIII was