January 11, 2024

Part 4
Twelve Pence to a Shilling
Queen Victoria


From the Shield on an 1877 Proof One Twenty Fourth of a Shilling

The reverse of the new coinage of 1877 uses a design from the
1871 Channel Islands' Exhibition Medal

Following the act of February 25, 1876, Jersey coinage would be denominated as a 12th, 24th, and 48th of a shilling following the English standard. The new coins of 1877 are the same size, although not the same weight as their English counterparts. The obverse has a dexter coroneted bust of Queen Victoria, with a seven pointed star with the legend “VICTORIA D. G. BRITANNIAR. REGINA F.D.” The legend in English is “Victoria, by the Grace of God of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland Queen, Defender of the Faith.” Leonard Charles Wyon engraved both the obverse and the reverse of the new coin. The 1876 Coinage Committee requested the reverse to be “similar to, though not an exact copy of the Channel Islands' Exhibition Medal 1871, which also contains other arms than those of the Island. As regards [to] the obverse, the Committee is particularly desirous of retaining that of the Jersey coinage, one penny and one half penny pieces of which are herein enclosed -- the only alteration needed being the substitution of the year 1876 for 1866, or 1870.”¹ J. B. Payne designed this 50 mm medal and his name appears at the bottom of the medal.

While working on the reverse, L. C. Wyon wrote to the Royal Mint on November 4, 1876, concerned about the missing spots on the beasts. Were the beasts lions or leopards? The Bailiff assured the Royal Mint in a November 7, 1876 letter that the leopards on the previous coins were a mistake and the animals were actually lions.² However, the Bailiff was incorrect about the nature of these cats. Some understanding of heraldry is necessary for any numismatist, especially regarding tinctures (colors). Vertical lines are red (gules) and dots are gold (yellow). Thus on the older coins, we have passant, guardant, yellow lions on a red shield. Mr. Wyon, based upon the Bailiff's directions, updated the shield from “leopards” to “lions” by removing the dots. He did keep the lines on the shield. The shield itself is a heater shape shield and it divides the date. The wording “STATES OF JERSEY” is around the upper half of the reverse, with the denomination around the lower half. This design lasted until 1923, when a square shield, in addition with scrolls, was restored.

Things to note about this series:

The Coinage Committee changed the original order of £1,000 in pennies, £500 in half pennies, and £500 in farthings to £1,000 in pennies, £700 in half pennies, and £300 in farthings.¹
In 1877 the coins were not minted by the British Royal Mint but by the private Heaton Mint (later known as the Birmingham Mint). However, the Royal Mint did engrave the dies (in 1876³) for the coins. These coins are the only Jersey coins with a mint mark. It is of interest that in 1877, the Heaton Mint minted coins for Hong Kong, Mauritius, and Jersey.
The 1888 mintage was authorized on January 16, 1888 and confirmed by Order in Council on March 17, 1888. The act authorized £2,000 nominal value worth of coins; half of which was delivered in 1888. The remaining £1,000 was supplied in 1894.
The new shield design, known as heater-shaped, is the earliest shape used for armorial purposes.


In 1977, Jersey issued this stamp featuring this coin for the "Centenary of Currency Reform."

If you look carefully, there are many things to discover on these coins. Various coins might have die cracks or die filling, repunched letters, various spacing in the dates and words, different fonts, and other items of interest. Thus for the numismatist there are many different varieties to discover. For example, notice the letters of VICTORIA from an 1877 farthing.

Be sure to click on the letter icon Letter image

to see images using a digital microscope.

From Bacon's Geographical Establishment Published in London, circa 1880

One Forty-Eighth of a Shilling 1877 (click on image to enlarge)

    Year    J#    KM#   Mintage  Diameter       
    1877    58A    6  Proof Only  20.3        
    1877H   59          288,000   20.3

The 1877 1/48 'no-H' proofs are rare.

This issue was withdrawn in May 1881, except for 38,400 pieces. (McCammon states that 38,240 pieces remained, but this is not in agreement with the Royal Mint documents.) The withdrawn coins were returned to the Royal Mint and melted for the 1881 one twelfth of a shilling coinage.⁴

Concerning this issue is interesting to note the following from Wilfrid du Pré article in the 1948 Annual Bulletin of La Société Jersiaise⁵ :

The 1877 issue was the ninth made since the inauguration of the local coinage. It consisted of 260,000 pence, 312,000 half-pence and a similar number of farthings, of which none had been issued since 1841. After the arrival of the coins it was found that the demand for farthings had been considerably over-estimated and some quarter of a million were accordingly returned to the Royal Mint reappearing in 1881 transformed into pence, thus constituting the tenth issue.

Judging from recent remarks by a member of the States, the farthing still serves a useful purpose, not only in the domestic life of the Island but as an interesting souvenir for visitors. The member reminded the House that 70 years had elapsed since Jersey farthings were last issued, and urged that a further supply should now be made.

Things to note:

This is the only Jersey coin where the denomination is partially in numeric and partially in words.
Proofs exist for both mints.


Ruined Arch at Grosnez from the 1879 edition of Black's Guide to the Channel Islands edited by David Ansted

One Twenty-Fourth of a Shilling 1877, 1888, and 1894 (click on image to enlarge)

    Year    J#    KM#   Mintage  Diameter       
    1877    42B    7  Proof Only  25.57        
    1877H   42          336,000   25.57            
    1888    43          120,000   25.57             
    1894    44          120,000   25.57

The 1877 1/24 'no-H' proofs are rare.

missing image

A pattern 1877 1/24 struck in nickel.

     Like all 1877 coins, the Royal Mint engraved the dies. The Heaton mint of Birmingham undertook the production of the 1877 coinage and added the familiar H mint mark.

     As mentioned earlier, there seems to be a difference of opinion on the correct mintage of various Jersey coins. For this grouping, the Jersey 1888 penny and half penny figures are in question. Krause and Pridmore state the mintages as 180,000 for the penny and 120,000 for the half penny. McCammon's and Marshall-Fraser's numbers are 195,000 and 130,000. In 1888, £750 of pennies and £250 of half pennies were ordered from the Royal Mint. Their numbers are computed based upon the old 13 pence to the shilling instead of the correct 12 pence to the shilling.

     In 1887 French bronze coins were once again declared not to be legal tender in Jersey.

Things to note:

On some examples of the 1877 H and the 1888 one twenty-fourth of a shilling coins, striations are visible on the obverse due to die clashing.
Proofs exist for the 1877 and 1894 coins.
A pattern nickel 1/24 shilling was unknown to Pridmore in this metal for this denomination.
The Royal Mint actually coined 125,440 pieces for the 1894 issue using two obverse dies and one reverse die.⁶

One Twelfth of a Shilling 1877, 1881, 1888, and 1894 (click on image to enlarge)

    Year    J#    KM#   Mintage  Diameter       
    1877    12C    8  Proof Only  30.70     
    1877H   12          240,000   30.70           
    1881    13           75,153   30.85          
    1888    14          180,000   30.85           
    1894    15          180,000   30.90

The 1877 nickel proofs are extremely rare.

From Wilfrid du Pré article in the 1948 Annual Bulletin of La Société Jersiaise⁵ :

During the long period of the Victorian coinage it is interesting to recall that only two designs of the Queen's head were used on the Jersey coinage, the 'young head' of 1841 by William Wyon, and its adaption by his son Leonard Charles as seen on the 1866 and subsequent issues. When the Victorian issues terminated in 1909 it was remarked that although there had been three issues after Her Majesty in 1877 had been proclaimed Empress of India, this title had never been indicated on the Jersey coins. The Queen's pride in this particular title is clearly shown in a letter to Lord Goschen in which Her Majesty, referring to a design for her Jubilee Medal, insists with emphasis that "the symbols of one of her proudest titles, Empress of India, must on no account be omitted."

Things to note:

For the 1877 H issue, the “A” in “STATES” was weakly cut.
On some examples of the 1877 H and the 1888 one twelfth of a shilling coins, striations are visible on the obverse due to die clashing.
On February 23, 1881 the Treasury authorized that thirteen boxes containing £260 worth of the 1877 farthings to be returned to the Royal Mint and be recoined into pence. The total mintage had a nominal value of £313/2/9 (or 75,153 coins).⁴
Proofs exist for the 1877, 1877H, and 1894 coins. For both the 1877 and 1877 H proof issues, coins were struck in bronze and in nickel. The nickel proofs are extremely rare.
There are unconfirmed reports of an 1877 proof in aluminum.
For the 1881 issue, the Royal Mint Annual Report⁷ states the following:
... in May a consignment of Jersey bronze farthings, of the nominal value of £260, was received at the Mint and re-coined, at the request of the States of Jersey and with their Lordships' sanction, into pence of the same design, for circulation in the Island. The usual charge for a bronze coinage was made to the States by this Department, but, the weight of the farthing being more than one-fourth of that of the penny (as in also the case in the imperial bronze coinage), the recoinage of £260 in farthings produced pence of the nominal value of £313.
During 1881 in addition to the imperial coinage, Colonial coinages were executed for Newfoundland, Hong Kong, Cyprus, the Straits Settlements, Malta and Jersey.
The Royal Mint actually coined 193,869 pieces for the 1894 issue using two obverse dies and three reverse dies.⁶

Old Cromlech, Formerly Near St. Helier's
from the 1879 edition of Black's Guide to the Channel Islands

The Obverse from an 1877 One Twelfth of a Shilling

The Reverse from an 1877 One Twelfth of a Shilling

The Obverse of the 1871 Channel Islands'Exhibition Medal

The Reverse of the 1871 Channel Islands'Exhibition Medal

The Channel Islands Bank was established in 1858 and was taken over by London & Midland Bank in 1898.


Jersey only minted coins 12 years during Queen Victoria's reign. (Queen Victoria by Sir David Wilkie, 1840.)

Jersey only minted coins 12 years during Queen Victoria's reign.
(Queen Victoria by Sir David Wilkie, 1840.)

Ruined Arch at Grosnez
from the 1879 edition of Black's Guide to the Channel Islands
edited by David Ansted

missing image

Old Cromlech, Formerly Near St. Helier's
from the 1879 edition of Black's Guide to the Channel Islands

From the 1879 edition of Black's Guide to the Channel Islands

1. HO 45/9339/21933, Channel Islands - Jersey: Introduction of new copper (Bronze) coinage. 1873 - 1876. Letter dated September 8, 1876. Home Office Papers, The Public Record Office, Kew, Richmond, Surrey, UK.

2. Numismatic Circular, from Spink and Son, Vol. 88, no. 6 (June 1980), pp. 213 and 214. The Reverse Design of Jersey Coinage.

3. Royal Mint Annual Report 1876 Volume 7, pp. 10-11.

4. MINT 12/4, Correspondence concerning the recoinage of Jersey bronze farthings into Jersey bronze pence. The Public Record Office, Kew, Richmond, Surrey, UK.

5. Wilfrid du Pré, Jersey's Copper Coinage, Annual Bulletin of La Société Jersiaise. 1948.

6. Royal Mint Annual Report 1894 Volume 25, pp. 65.

7. Royal Mint Annual Report 1881 Volume 12, pp. 11.

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Twelve Pence to a Shilling - Queen Victoria,
Twelve Pence to a Shilling - King Edward VII,
Twelve Pence to a Shilling - King George V,
Twelve Pence to a Shilling - King George VI,
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Part 4Twelve Pence to a ShillingQueen Victoria

Part 4
Twelve Pence to a Shilling
Queen Victoria