Fourpence (British coin) Victoria, designed by Joseph Boehm – the reverse is unchanged. 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 instead of the words . Fourpence (British coin) The pre-decimal fourpence (4d), sometimes known as a groat (from Dutch "grootpennig" = "big penny") or fourpenny bit, was a coin worth one sixtieth of a pound sterling, or four pence. The coin was also known as a joey after the MP Joseph Hume, who spoke in favour of its
Penny (English coin) comes from the Old English "pennige" (pronounced , roughly "penny-yə"), sharing the same root as the German "pfennig". Its abbreviation d. comes from the Roman "denarius" and was used until decimalisation in 1971. Due to their ubiquity pennies have accumulated a great number of idioms to their name usually recognizing them for their common-ness and their miniscule value. These might include: Anglo-Saxon silver pennies were the currency used to pay the Danegeld, essentially protection money paid to the Vikings so that they would go away and not ravage the land. As an illustration of how heavy a burden the Danegeld