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Edward I farthing

This is coin number five from a group sent in by Jamie New. It’s a class X London farthing of Edward I. It’s only about 12mm in diameter but is shown greatly enlarged.

Coins of this size used to be very scarce and gathering together a good collection from a number of reigns was extremely difficult. The same could be said of cut halfpennies and farthings. As detecting machines became more sensitive very small coins became easier to find. An important point to remember is that these coins were used by ordinary folk rather than the small section of society that was well off. Most detectorists would also regard themselves as being ‘ordinary’, so it seems to me to be appropriate that they are unearthing coins lost by their ancestors.

Class X farthings of Edward I are no longer scarce but there are some very rare varieties. The legend normally starts after the initial cross on the obverse but it occasionally starts at 2, 4, 6 or 9 o’clock. Specialist collectors are willing to pay a large premium over the catalogue price for any of these varieties.

Valuation

Jamie’s farthing would grade Fine to good Fine for the issue and to a keen collector should be worth around £35.

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