1 Farthing - Charles I Rose issue, type 4b

The brass wedge — a small insert hammered into the copper flan before striking — was introduced on later farthing issues as a deliberate anti-counterfeiting measure, since these tokens had been plagued by forgeries almost from the moment regal copper farthings were authorized under James I. The practice never fully solved the problem. Counterfeit farthings remained so prevalent that Charles I ultimately revoked the private patent under which they were produced, and the series ended with the Civil War making the question largely moot.