St Helens penny farthing sold for thousands of times its initial value

As low coinage such as penny farthings were often in short supply outside of London in the 19th century, a series of unofficial 'tokens' began to be circulated in areas such as St Helens.

Although the authorities would enforce the law against people using tokens as low as a halfpenny in value, penny farthing tokens, which were worth around a quarter of a penny, were often circulated unhindered.

Due to their 'unofficial' nature, the tokens often bore a description of their issuer's name, address, and business interest, as well as a copy of the queen's portrait to make them seem more realistic.

The coins also deliberately omitted the word 'farthing' and any reference to monetary value, so the owner could plead innocence that the coin was purely an advertising piece rather than an object of payment.

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The coin's copy of Queen Victoria's portrait (Image: coastalcoinsuk) Improved production of regal copper and improved facilities for distribution, such as the rail network, helped to reduce the demand for private supplies of coins.

Soft copper coinage was also replaced by harder bronze coins from 1860, which slowly ended the need for private coin substitutions, which had been intermittently used for around two centuries.

With these penny farthing tokens carrying a limited and particular history, many of them now sell for tens of thousands of times more than their original quarter penny value.

This is because the quarter penny value was at a time when there was 240 pennies to the pound, so it would now be worth around 0.10 pence in today's money.

A website on unofficial penny farthings shows various tokens being sold from £9 to upwards of £100.

Wolverhampton House was built by RG Brook in the 1870s (Image: St Helens Archive Service) The St Helens unofficial penny farthing was being sold by a rare coin collector on eBay for £75 - an increase of around 75,000 percent of its original value.

The coin's engraving states the issuer's business interest as RG Brook & Co Ironmongers and Cutlers, which was a prevalent iron goods and cutlery business in the 19th century.

The coin also states the business location as Wolverhampton House, St Helens, where Robert Goldthorp Brook had the ironmongers building created along Church Street in the early 1870s.