A 'Robin' Farthing

[Guest Fenman]

Hi,

I have heard mention today of a farthing with a Robin on the reverse.

The guy is adamant that his mother used to keep them as lucky coins. The same fellow also states that they were different to the wren farthing.

I cannot find mention of them in Spink or on the net.

Was he just mistaken?

Many thanks

[Chris Perkins 228]

I think the fellow must be getting his British birds confused, which can be a very dangerous thing to do in some circumstances!

I have never heard of a Robin farthing, just the Wren....Which looks very much like a Robin.

[Guest Guest]

I think the fellow must be getting his British birds confused, which can be a very dangerous thing to do in some circumstances!

I have never heard of a Robin farthing, just the Wren....Which looks very much like a Robin.

Yep, as I thought, Chris.

It's amazing how hazy people's memories are of yesteryear and how much they convince themselves of a fact that never existed.

It's like a discussion I had with a guy the other day who maintained that the Raleigh Chopper bike from the '70s was a rather more comfortable ride than the bikes of today.

Not if you slipped 'spuds first' onto the gearshift it wasn't

Many thanks for the reply.

[Guest Eliza]

There's a great deal of native lore regarding Wrens. Many myths and legends. The Wren is considered the King of all birds, for having outwiited the Eagle in a flying contest. The Wren and the Robin are symbols of Winter and Summer, or the Light Half and Dark Half of the agricultural year.

I've heard that the Wren farthings were indeed hugely popular in England. I have one, 1958, holed -- no doubt to wear.

Eliza

[Sylvester 15]

I've heard that the Wren farthings were indeed hugely popular in England. I have one, 1958, holed -- no doubt to wear.

Eliza

1958?

[Guest Eliza]

I think so: 1956 or '58. Some poopsie with pigtails on the obverse ...

[Sylvester 15]

I think so: 1956 or '58. Some poopsie with pigtails on the obverse ...

1956 most likely, production of this denomination was terminated in 1956.

[Fenman 0]

In the absence of a more solid explanation for the 'Great Robin Farthing Mystery', would it be possible that this bloke is referring to a token coin?

I have since found out that his mother took these coins to bingo for good luck.

Gambling establishments were and still are very eager to pay anything rather than hard cash

Just a theory.

[Chris Perkins 228]

That's a good theory I suppose. It may have been a Quarter of a penny 'Mecca' token (or what ever the big bingo company was then).