“In early manhood a bold and successful navigator and discoverer in seas almost unknown; in maturer life a prosperous merchant. The decline of life was not unmarked by vicissitudes of fortune. But prosperity did not elate nor could adversity subdue his firm and constant spirit. Each quarter of the globe bore witness to his enterprise and its success.”
ST. PATRICK’S HALF PENCE ONCE CURRENT IN NEW JERSEY.
The only specimen in gold known of the coin called in America the Mark Newby farthing was sold in London in June, 1909. These farthings have an interesting history. Many were struck in silver, copper, brass and even lead.
The obverse shows a crowned king kneeling and playing a harp. Above the harp is a crown, while around the border is the inscription “Floreat Rex.” On the reverse the principal device shows St. Patrick, with right hand outstretched, banishing the serpents from Ireland. In his left hand he carried a double or metropolitan cross and at the extreme right is a church. The inscription of the reverse reads “Quiescat Plebs.”
There are many varieties of these farthings, of widely differing weights but of nearly uniform size and with both plain and reeded edges. The silver pieces are very irregular in their weight, which ranges from ninety-eight to 176 grains, but all are about the size of an old fashioned copper cent. The coins struck in copper are more uniform, averaging about ninety-eight grains.
The coin is supposed to have had its origin in Ireland in the reign of Charles I., and it has been the subject of much discussion.
A party of immigrants from Dublin, among whom were Mark Newby (or Newbie) and his family, arrived in the Colony of New Jersey on November 19, 1681. Newby brought with him a quantity of the St. Patrick’s half pence, as they were termed in Ireland. At this period fractional currency was exceedingly scarce in the Colony and on May 8, 1682, the New Jersey authorities passed an act “for the more convenient payment of small sums,” which provided “that Mark Newbie’s half pence, called Patrick’s half pence, shall from and after the said 18th instant pass for half pence current pay of this province, provided he, the said Mark, his executors and administrators, shall and will change the said half pence for pay equivalent upon demand; and provided also that no person or persons be hereby obliged to take more than five shillings in one payment.” The full text is found in the “Grants, Concessions and Original constitutions of the Province of New Jersey.”
It is not known how many of the coins were brought over by Newby, but the quantity is supposed to have been large. Indeed, he is thought to have manufactured additional coins of similar design in this country. No repeal of the act making the St. Patrick’s half pence current appears on the New Jersey records.
There were also St. Patrick’s half pence of large size, some of them a third larger than those described. The larger pieces were struck in copper and weighed on an average 144 grains. The obverse design is similar to that of the farthings but the reverse is entirely different.
It showed St. Patrick with a trefoil in his right hand, a crozier in his left, surrounded by a crowd of people. On the left side is a shield with three castles. The inscription is “Ecce Grex.” These coins also occur with plain and reeded edges. The larger coins were called half pennies, while the smaller were termed farthings.