For hundreds of years the only coins minted in England were (with very rare exceptions) silver pennies. If people wanted smaller value coins then they cut the pennies into halves and quarters, making halfpennies and farthings (i.e. 'fourth-ings'). Even a halfpenny like this was a valuable coin. When it was issued, in about 1210, a working man earned 2 pennies for a day's work.