The farthing was the smallest coin until 1960, except for a 27 year period in the mid-19th Century under Queen Victoria, when there was a half farthing.

When the new penny was first introduced, its spending power was close to that of a modern ten-pence piece; now it is closer in value to the old farthing at the time of that coin’s withdrawal.

The remarks do, however, raise a couple of other points worthy of consideration. The farthing coin was legal tender until 31 December, 1960 when it was deemed unusable due to an increasingly low ...