There is proof that the Scandinavian personal name Farthegn was often pronounced the same as the modern English surname Farthing. The English penny shown below was minted in Lincoln by a moneyer whose name is spelled FARTHENG. Engraved on the reverse side (the coin on the right), the Old English letter "eth" was used for the letters -th. This looks like the letter D with a horizontal slash through it. The bust of King Aethelred II (the Unready) is on the obverse side (the coin on the left).
The coin at the bottom of the page was produced in York by a moneyer whose name is spelled FARTHIN. The letter "eth" is used again. The helmeted bust of King Cnut is on the obverse side. Both of these coins are one thousand years old.
From here you can click on the Previous Page...or...see photographs of more than 50 Farthegn coins by clicking on A Corpus of the Farthegn Coins...or...click on The History of the Farthing Surname. |
