Episode 3084
Fourpence (British coin)
Tue, 2025-Oct-14 01:10 UTC
Length - 1:54
Direct Link
Welcome to featured Wiki of the Day, your daily dose of knowledge from Wikipedia's finest articles.
The featured article for Tuesday, 14 October 2025, is Fourpence (British coin).
The British fourpence coin, sometimes known as a groat, "joey" or fourpenny bit, is a silver coin worth 1⁄60 of one pound or 1⁄3 of one shilling. It is a continuation of the English groat series struck intermittently from the late 13th century until the Acts of Union in 1707.
The British groat was struck throughout the 18th century, though by 1800 it had come mostly to be coined to be given as ceremonial alms at the Royal Maundy service. It was resurrected as a circulating coin in 1836, as the Royal Mint sought to fill the gap between the penny and sixpence. The fourpence was chosen at the urging of the politician Joseph Hume, who noted that fourpence was the cab fare for short journeys. The new coin did not endear him to hackney drivers, who previously often received sixpence without a request for change, and they gave it the nickname "joey". There was also confusion between the groat and the sixpence.
In 1845, the Royal Mint began to strike the threepenny bit for circulation in Britain. The same diameter as the groat, though thinner, the threepence proved more popular, and the last groats intended for circulation in Britain were dated 1855. A final issue of fourpences, intended for use in British Guiana, was dated 1888.
This recording reflects the Wikipedia text as of 01:10 UTC on Tuesday, 14 October 2025.
For the full current version of the article, see Fourpence (British coin) on Wikipedia.
This podcast uses content from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.
Visit our archives at wikioftheday.com and subscribe to stay updated on new episodes.
Follow us on Bluesky at @wikioftheday.com.
Also check out Curmudgeon's Corner, a current events podcast.
Until next time, I'm neural Stephen.
|
|
