Model Half Farthing

[azda 973]

Nothing in the book for prices, was this coin circulated or was it a model as it says and never made? Scarce or not?

[Chingford 166]

Nothing in the book for prices, was this coin circulated or was it a model as it says and never made? Scarce or not?

It is a model, play/toy money, all denominations from bank notes down to fractional farthngs.

I have copied the following from Token Society, author D Magnay.

Toy Coin has become an all embracing heading for items that look like "real coins" - coins of the Realm - but are not or were not "spending money".

The generally accepted view is that "Toy" is of miniature size and an imitation. 

There are plenty of sub divisions, for the specialist, but by far the largest series and those most usually found are a huge selection of miniature imitation coins of actual currency.

There were several issuers but the firm of Lauer, of Nuremberg, Germany, were the main engravers and strikers of miniature replica imitation currency coins, usually between 12mm and 14mm in diameter, for many countries from about 1880 until about 1950. 

The largest issue was for Germany, followed by Britain, followed by most of Europe, Scandinavia and the USA.

The metals used were brass for the gold denominations, iron - usually thinly plated for protection - for the silver denominations, but sometimes zinc or nickel, and copper for the copper denominations.

The purpose of these coins was to show off the engraving expertise of the firm and act as advertising for their business, for sale as toys for children and for dolls houses, for educational and teaching purposes and as specific promotional items for other businesses.

As it is a lightly collected series, in comparison to currency collecting, even the rarer types fetch only a few pounds, although some box sets with full contents do achieve higher prices.

John

[Colin G. 147]

Azda,

I have a page on my website about these pieces, and a list of the known die varieties and combinations.

http://www.aboutfarthings.co.uk/Lauer%20Model%20Farthings.html

Fascinating little pieces, but surprisingly cheap to obtain

[1887jubilee 36]

First class responses from Chingford and Colin G at http://www.aboutfarthings.co.uk/Lauer%20Model%20Farthings.html . I look forward to him getting the other images to finish the web page. There is also good information on the Fitzwilliam Museum web site.