It looks like an ordinary homeland type, but this 1843 British half-farthing was intended for use in Ceylon. Still, it had also been proclaimed current at home the previous year, in 1842—so the rose was accentuated, and the thistle and shamrock added, to make it look more familiar to the British public.
These coins really did circulate in the UK, but encountering one was definitely not an everyday thing, to a point where the
Manchester Guardian felt compelled to publish a “CAUTION—Attempts have recently been made in this neighbourhood to pass off the new half farthings for half sovereigns.”
Mintage of Victoria’s half-farthings peaked with the coins dated 1844 and declined thereafter. The last half-farthings were dated 1856, and the coins were demonetized in the UK in 1869.
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