Farthings – a quarter of an old penny – are now a distant memory but for many years, they were an important source of income for the Church of England.

Children who attended churches in Oxfordshire towns and villages would encourage their parents to save every farthing they could during the year.

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Then at Whitsun, a small group would be chosen to represent the parish and hand over the coins to the Bishop of Oxford at a special service at Christ Church Cathedral off St Aldate’s.

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This picture shows the children who attended Sunday school at St Michael and All Angels Church at New Marston, Oxford, preparing to join the cathedral service in the early 1950s.

After the farthing was withdrawn in 1960, the halfpenny was the lowest denomination coin until it was withdrawn before decimalisation in 1971.