THE STORY OF THE SILVER THREEPENCE
The British threepence has had a number of changes over the years and did you know they are still made today? In this special guide, Lawrence Chard, Director and Expert Numismatist of Chards Coin and Bullion Dealer, describes the history of the silver threepence from 1551 to the present day
Edward VI threepences
The very first silver threepence was issued in 1551 for Edward VI in fine silver. There had been a severe debasement of the silver coinage under his father Henry VIII, which had continued in the early years of Edward’s reign. In 1551, however, the quality of the silver coinage was restored, although at a lower weight, and the silver threepence along with the sixpence was issued for the first time as part of this new higher standard of silver coinage.
The first silver threepence, Edward VI (1547-33)
For many centuries, the only commonly issued coin had been the silver penny, followed by the groat or fourpence during the
13th century. In the 16th century, many new coin denominations were added.
This first threepence of Edward VI had a portrait of the young king facing, with a Tudor rose to the left, and the value III to the right. The reverse design was a shield and a long cross. As most of the coins of this period, the threepence was undated, although the first British coins to bear a date were also issued in 1551. The obverse legend of these first threepences reads ‘EDWARD · VI · D · G · AG ·
FR · Z · HIB · REX ·’ meaning ‘Edward the Sixth by the Grace of God King of England France and Ireland.’ The reverse legend reads ‘POSVI DEV : ADIVTORE · MEV ·’ meaning ‘I have made God my Helper.’ During the Edward VI period there were some threepences issued at the Tower Mint, London with a mint mark tun (small barrel in legend). They catalogue at £185 in fine or £1,000 in VF (very fine). There were also some issued in
York which command a higher price of £425 in fine or £2,000 in VF (prices from Spink 2020).
Reintroduction of the threepence coin, Elizabeth (1558-1603)
The Elizabeth threepences did not carry a value mark, as in those days most people could usually tell the difference between a twopence, threepence and fourpence by their size, weight and design. However, since coins were sometimes ‘clipped’, to steal some silver from them, differentiating between the values by size and weight wasn’t always possible. So this second series had a rose behind the queen’s head, which can be considered to be a mark of value. In Beaumont and Fletcher’s The Scornful Lady, somebody gets ‘whipt, and then cropt, for washing out the roses in three-farthings to make them pence.’
Nowadays, one of the commonest enquiries we get relates to ‘old’ coins people have found, and they are puzzled and confused because it doesn’t state its face value or denomination, which they find surprising. James I (1603-25) did not produce any threepences during his reign following Elizabeth.
Charles I (1625-49)
Threepences were issued again under Charles I. Some types had III as their value mark, others were issued without. The easiest to obtain is the Aberystwyth minted coin which catalogues at £60 in fine and £160 in VF. During the Civil War some threepences were struck in towns to supply coinage for the areas of the country under Royalist control. These were of the declaration type which refer to the declaration that Charles made when he promised to uphold the Protestant Religion, the Laws of
England and the Liberty of Parliament.
The hardest type to find would be the late declaration type of
1645 thought to have been issued at Ashby De La Zouch, likely to set you back £2,500 in VF. Other normal types show the king facing left on the obverse, and various ornate garnished shields of arms on the reverse. These were produced at Exeter, Worcester or Salopia (Shrewsbury) and Chester. The obverse legend reads ‘CAROLVS · D’ · G’ · M’ · B’ · FR’ · ET ·
H’ · REX’ meaning ‘Charles by the Grace of God King of Great Britain France and Ireland.’ The reverse legend reads CHRISTO · AVSPICE · REGNO meaning ‘I reign under the auspices of Christ.’
Charles II (1660-85)
The last of the hammered threepences were produced under Charles II, these were of a similar style to those of the previous King. Then in 1663 milled (machine made) coinage finally superseded the previous hand-hammered coining methods, and new coinage was introduced with noticeably different designs. A better quality portrait of the King started to appear and the reverse showed three interlinking ‘C’s to symbolise the three pence, the date started to appear for each year of issue. Milled dated issues are listed from £10 in fine and up to £105 in VF depending on year.
King James II (1685-88)
The design continued similar to that of his father but the
King had a laureate bust and letters on the reverse were three crowned ‘I’s (for IACOBUS) instead of ‘C’s. Obverse legend reads ‘IACOBVS·II· DEI·GRATIA’ meaning ‘James the Second by the Grace of
God.’ The reverse legend reading MAG·BR·FRA·ET·HIB·REX·16 86 III meaning ‘King of Great Britain France and Ireland’.
WIlliam & Mary to modern-day design
William & Mary (1689-94),
William III (1694-1702), Anne (1702-14), George I (1714-27) and George II (1727-60) all had crowned numbers to show their value. For a brief period in the reign of George III (1760-1820) coins with very thin numbering were produced referred to as ‘wire money’ but the design was very much the same, it then reverted back to the normal design. During George IV (1820-30) the legend round the outside of the reverse was dropped, and replaced by a wreath of oak leaves. The general design has not changed from William and Mary in 1689 through all the monarchs until modern day!
Queen Victoria threepence coins
Types sets of all three portraits of the Queen Victoria threepences are often sold and are popular with collectors. The young head was issued 1838-87, Jubilee head 1887-93 and old head 1893-1901. The circulated threepence and the threepence given out at the Maundy ceremonies were the same design. Threepences from Maundy sets are often missing as they were the only easily spendable coin in the set at the time. If the owner of the set was short of money the threepence got spent!
King Edward VII (1901-10)
Issued in all years from 1902 to 1910. The design was mostly unchanged but Maundy versions had a more proof-like look. This differentiation had actually started in the previous reign of Victoria.
George V Silver Threepence (1910-36)
The reverse design remained as a crowned ‘3’ numeral, even through the major recoinage of 1817. The first issue was between 1911-20 and was 0.925 silver. The second issue came out part way through 1920 and was reduced to 0.500 silver due to the severe shortage of silver.
There was a major change in the reverse from 1927-36 when a design of acorns and oak leaves was used.
The denomination was written in the legend round the outside of the leaves.
The 1937 Silver Threepence coin
In 1937, a new design was introduced for the silver threepences of George VI, and at the same time a new brass
alloy was used for the new twelvesided brass threepences. The new silver threepence design was a shield bearing St. George’s cross in the centre of a rose. Silver threepences continued to be issued until 1944, although from 1942 they were only issued for colonial use, and the last three dates are fairly scarce, particularly in higher grades. 1945 dated coins were struck but withdrawn before issue, and they are extremely rare.
Maundy Money
The one penny to four pence have traditionally been given out in Maundy ceremonies. The Maundy coinage has always been silver.
There was a reduction in their silver content from 0.925 silver (sterling silver) to 0.500 silver in 1921. It was restored again in 1947 to sterling silver when circulation ‘silver’ coins were changed to cupro-nickel.
The Maundy threepences still retained their centuries-old design to this day of a crowned figure ‘3’. Some readers may well stop reading before they get to this point and e-mail or phone us excitedly to tell us they have found one of the extremely rare 1945 threepences described above. The same will happen with later dates also. Even to this day, the silver threepences produced each year for the Maundy ceremony still retain the old crowned ‘3’ as their reverse design.
Brass threepence
The silver threepenny bit was more popular in Scotland than England, where it was considered too fiddly to handle. There were mixed opinions in 1937 when the first brass threepence was issued but it soon became one of the nation’s most loved coins, thanks to its quirky dodecagonal shape and its yellow appearance, that made it easy to find. The silver threepence was still produced and continued to circulate due to its popularity in Scotland and parts of the Commonwealth.
Interestingly from 1937-40 the coin had sharp corners, in 1941 it had either both sharp or rounded corners, 1942-46 they were rounded, and
1948 they were either. The common weight of the threepence was 6.8 grams, comprising 79% copper, 20% zinc and 1% nickel.
The first obverse design from 193748 included the words ‘GEORGIVS VI D:G:BR:OMN:REX F:D:IND:IMP.’ meaning ‘George the Sixth by the Grace of God King of all the Britains Defender of the
Faith Emperor of India.’ Editions from 1949-52 omitted ‘IND:IMP’ (Emperor of India) as the King had adopted the title Head of the Commonwealth.
The ‘Joey’ nickname
This article would not be complete without mentioning that the common ‘nickname’ for the silver threepence was a ‘Joey’, although we have also heard this used for the silver groat or fourpence. Collector Ron H-W, provided us with the following, explanation:
There are a few factors at work there: the silver fourpence was re-introduced in 1836, at the instigation of Joseph Hume. This was because the standard cab fare was then 4d (four pence). Cabbies, having got used to often being handed a sixpence and told to keep the change, now found themselves usually being given the exact money (no tip!), and therefore nicknamed these coins ‘Joeys’ in derision (a reference to Joseph Hume), we know them as ‘Britannia Groats’. This denomination was re-introduced for circulation in 1836 at the recommendation of Joseph Hume and nick-named after him ‘Joeys’.
Circulation issue groats had the Britannia reverse; Maundy Groats did not. In Australia, it was noticed that the (silver) threepence was a very small coin. Baby kangaroos, known as joeys, are also small.
So, put these ideas together. With the withdrawal in the UK of the Britannia groat, some people transferred the nickname from the 4d to what then became the UK’s smallest circulating coin, most people not having seen (let alone handled) Maundy pennies and twopences. This could have been with awareness of Australian usage, but one example of Joey referring to the 4d is seen in Undercurrents Overlooked, Volume 1 by Mrs. Wm. Pitt Byrne (R. Bentley, 1860): ‘Hi - hi - all you respectable people what’s got a joey, get half a pint of beer and sport the other threepence up here…’ (and presumably beer was 2d a pint).