Fourpence (British coin)

Fourpence

United Kingdom
Value	4d sterling
Mass	1.9 g
Diameter	16 mm
Thickness	1 mm
Edge	Milled
Composition	92.5% Ag
Obverse
Design	Profile of the monarch (Victoria design shown)
Designer	Joseph Boehm
Design date	1888 (first used on British coinage in 1887)
Reverse
Design	Britannia
Designer	William Wyon
Design date	1836

The British fourpence coin, sometimes known as a groat, "Joey" or fourpenny bit, is a denomination of sterling coinage worth 1⁄60 of one pound or 1⁄3 of one shilling. It is a continuation of the groat series struck before the Acts of Union 1707, issued intermittently beginning in the late 13th century.

The 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, a function it still fulfills. 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. 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.