Groat
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Groat is the traditional name of the British silver coin worth four pennies. The name's earliest use was more generic, for a thick or large coin, as this was when introduced an unusually large silver coin... "large" and "thick" both being acceptable translations of grosso, the name of the coin issued by Venice in the 13th century that was the first of this general size to circulate in Europe.
More immediately ancestral to the British groats was the French gros tournois, which was known as the groot (Dutch for "great" or "large") in the Netherlands. It was after this coin had circulated in England that an English groat was first minted under King Edward I.
While strictly speaking the English groat should have contained four pennyweights or 96 grains (6.2 grams) of sterling silver, the first ones issued weighed 89 grains (5.8 g) and later issues became progressively lighter. The weight was reduced to 72 grains (three pennyweights or 4.7 g) under Edward III, 60 grains (3.9 g) under Henry IV, and 48 grains (3.1 g) under Edward IV. From 1544 to 1560 (the weight being reduced to 32 grains (2.1 g) in 1559) the silver fineness was less than sterling, and after the 1561 issue they were not generally issued for circulation again for about a hundred years.
From the reigns of Charles II to George III groats (by now often known as fourpences) were issued on an irregular basis for general circulation, the only years of mintage after 1786 being in 1792, 1795, and 1800. After this the only circulating issues were from 1836 to 1855, with proofs known from 1857 and 1862 and a colonial issue of 1888. These last coins had the weight further reduced to about 27 grains (1.9 grams) and were the same diameter of the silver threepenny pieces of the day although thicker. They also had Britannia on the reverse, while all other silver fourpenny pieces since the reign of William and Mary have had a crowned numeral "4" as the reverse, including the silver fourpenny Maundy money coins of the present. Some groats continued to circulate in Scotland until the 20th century.
Since 1971 the fourpenny coins have been denominated in new pence and thus represent 1/25th rather than 1/60th of a Pound sterling unlike the traditional groats.
At times in the past silver twopenny coins have been called half-groats.