Sixpence Ceremony

Discover a new approach to “Will the Cards Match?” with a presentation rooted in the folklore surrounding the English sixpence coin.

I’ve just published another edition of my regular Ruseletter column, Easy Does It, where I blend ancient traditions of love, luck, and witchcraft to breathe new life into a classic self-working card effect (you can subscribe to receive future editions via email). This column focuses on tricks that are simple to perform, often self-working or semi-automatic in nature. However, that doesn’t mean I won’t include the occasional routine involving some rudimentary sleight of hand!

In issue #4, I share the details of a new approach to “Will the Cards Match?”, combining it with some basic coin magic to make it more interesting and engaging.

Invented by Larry Becker and first published in Harry Lorayne’s Apocalypse in 1987, this self-working card trick is considered among the best ever created. The trick utilises the Ramasee Principle, discovered by the American magician Howard Adams (1931-2010), to accomplish a highly impressive coincidence/matching routine involving ten cards, ripped in half (to create five matching pairs).

Image Credit: Marty's Bag of Tricks

Typically, the effect involves spelling a phrase to mix and pair the cards—Larry used “Will the cards match?”, but other words and phrases, such as “Last two cards match”, also work. Recently, I discovered a way to perform the trick with coins, counters, or tokens, completely avoiding the spelling procedure (this is an idea by Michael Weber and Tim Trono). While I still enjoy performing the trick in its original form, using coins helps better disguise the underlying mathematical method. It also adds a sensory dimension to the trick, allowing the spectator to move the coins about as part of the random mixing and pairing process. Additionally, the coins enable you to incorporate some sleight-of-hand vanishes and productions into the routine, enhancing its overall visual appeal. This also makes it an excellent “transition piece”, allowing you to move from card to coin magic (or vice versa), using “Sixpence Ceremony” as a bridging effect.

The presentation is based on an old British wedding tradition, probably of Victorian origin, which involves the father of the bride slipping a silver sixpence into the bride’s left shoe on her wedding day! 👰🏻👠🪙 This tradition was meant to bless the bride with good luck and perhaps one sore foot! It was also believed to bring financial fortune and happiness to the married couple. You’re likely familiar with the traditional wedding rhyme “Something old, Something new,” associated with the items a bride should wear for good luck on her wedding day. However, few people know there is a final line: “And a silver sixpence in her shoe.” Here’s the whole verse:

Something old,
Something new,
Something borrowed,
Something blue,
And a silver sixpence in her shoe.

This served as my starting point for the presentation, offering a compelling hook for the trick. Love and marriage are universal themes that resonate with most people. 💞💒 Once I uncovered this little-known fact, combining “Will the Cards Match?” with Hofzinser’s Royal Marriages plot made perfect sense. I’m sure I’m not the first to do this, but I believe the romantic theme offers many advantages. I’ve also included a fantastic video tutorial by Rick Holcombe that teaches you how to produce a coin between two cards. Moreover, I’ve included additional ideas for other magicians, particularly advanced coin workers, to expand upon.

Read Easy Does It #4: Sixpence Ceremony 👈

In the rest of this blog post, I will explore the history and folklore of the silver sixpence. Developing this routine has led me down the proverbial rabbit hole, as often happens when I write a “short” blog post! 🐇🕳 I have researched the strange traditions associated with the sixpence coin and thought I’d share some of what I discovered here. Hopefully, some of this information will help you enhance your performance of “Sixpence Ceremony”. Or perhaps it will encourage you to develop a follow-up routine using those supernatural sixpence coins!

The Supernatural Sixpence

The British sixpence holds considerable cultural importance, particularly as a symbol of good luck and prosperity. ☘ It is intertwined with many rituals, customs, and traditions. As we’ve already learned, a sixpence is traditionally placed in a bride’s left shoe to bestow good fortune on the happy couple’s wedding day. However, did you know that it is also hidden within a Christmas pudding, based on the belief that whoever finds it will enjoy good luck in the coming year? 

Anyone who has recited a little rhyme while picking up a “lucky” penny understands that coin magic—a form of magical thinking rather than sleight of hand—still exists. In fact, many of the peculiar practices mentioned in this article still endure in some diminished or modified form.

The silver sixpence was thought to do many supernatural things: cure ailments, strengthen prayers, ward off witches, predict the future, or simply bring a person good fortune. That’s one powerful coin! Those who valued its magical properties often wore it as a talisman, on a necklace or bracelet, and bequeathed it to their descendants.

Folklore states that the coin possesses five aspects or characteristics that bestow magical properties upon it:

1. Silver metal can act as a protective charm or sometimes as an offensive weapon against evil forces, such as werewolves.
2. The cross on the shield (on older sixpence coins) is an important element of the charm, incorporating Christian and pre-Christian symbolism, including the Celtic cross.
3. The depiction of a monarch may be associated with healing powers (the King’s touch).
4. The coin’s alteration through bending or perforation is also notable, increasing its magical powers.
5. The number represented in the coin’s denomination is significant: six is a multiple of three, and three is a symbolically powerful number associated with magical and sacred concepts, such as the Holy Trinity.

Let’s explore some of these ideas in greater detail, beginning with a potted history of the coin.

History of the Sixpence

The English sixpence, a small silver coin deeply embedded in British culture and tradition, was first minted in 1551 during the reign of Edward VI, the only surviving son of Henry VIII and his third wife, Jane Seymour. Affectionately known as the “tanner”—a nickname with origins that remain tantalisingly mysterious—it was struck under every monarch (except Edward VIII in 1936) and throughout the entire Commonwealth period (1649-1660). The sixpence was last minted for circulation in 1967, although a proof edition was issued for collectors in 1970. After over four centuries of jingling in British pockets, the coin was ultimately demonetised in 1980.

Before decimalisation in 1971, British currency operated under the ancient Carolingian system, a delightfully complex arrangement with 240 pennies in a pound. A shilling was worth twelve pennies, and twenty shillings made a pound. Thus, the sixpence (half a shilling) equated to 1/40 th of a pound. After decimalisation, the old sixpence was valued at 2 1/2 new pence (£0.025).

From the Great Recoinage of 1816 until 1967, the size and weight of the sixpence remained remarkably consistent: its diameter was 19.41 mm (slightly larger than a U.S. dime), and its weight was 2.83 grams. However, its composition changed over time. Between 1816 and 1920, the silver content was 92.5% (sterling silver). Sixpences dated from 1920 to 1946 had a silver content of 50%, while those minted from 1947 contained no silver and were made of a copper and nickel alloy.

Though the original sixpence is now merely a historical curiosity, in 2016, The Royal Mint began striking new decimal sixpences (with a face value of £0.06) as commemorative issues. Since then, these coins have been produced yearly and minted in sterling silver. They are not intended for circulation as currency; just like older mintages, these coins continue to have uses, especially in Christmas and wedding traditions, ensuring that this beloved piece of British numismatic history continues to shine in the nation’s cultural consciousness.

Sixpence as a Symbol of Love and Commitment 🥰

During the Elizabethan period and well into the 18th century, bent sixpence coins served as tokens of love and affection. Sometimes, these coins were even broken in half, with each partner keeping one half as a symbol of their commitment or promise of a future marital union. This concept echoes the use of ripped or cut half-cards in the performance of “Will the Cards Match?” You can adapt “Sixpence Ceremony” to incorporate this idea, if you prefer. For instance, you might use the Ace, Two, Three, Four, and Five of Hearts instead of Kings, Queens, and Jokers, ripped in half. Begin the routine by stating, “In centuries past, lovers would rip, bend or break an object like a playing card or a silver sixpence as a promise; a vow of union, devotion, and fate. Let’s see if the cards—and the coins—can honour that tradition tonight...” You could also cut some sixpence pieces in half with metal shears or a small hacksaw and use five of these “love tokens” as counters for the trick (either with the Kings, Queens and Jokers or a set of ripped cards). Be careful if you decide to do this, and make sure the clipped coins do not retain sharp edges!

But this older practice of bending or breaking sixpences doesn’t explain why we started placing them in the left shoe of a bride for good luck. Most historians believe that this is a later tradition that began in Victorian England and then travelled across the pond to polite society in America. However, it may have roots in an older superstition surrounding the sixpence.

In the early 17th century, Anglican bishop, humorist, and poet Richard Corbet (1582-1635) wrote a satirical poem titled “The Faeryes Farewell” (or “God-A-Mercy Will”), which triumphantly credited the Reformation with driving all the fairies out of England. The poem mentions the sixpence in the opening verse (I’ve replaced the old English with the modern equivalent to aid comprehension. You can read the original poem on this page.):

Farewell, rewards and fairies!
Good housewives now may say;
For now foul sluts in dairies,
Do fare as well as they;
And though they sweep their hearths no less
Than maids were wont to do,
Yet who of late for cleanliness
Finds sixpence in the shoe?

Fairy folklore of the Early Modern period urged maids and housewives to placate the fairies by keeping a tidy home. Milk and bread were left out for them at bedtime each night. Fairies would only come when the household was asleep, leaving rewards—most often a sixpence in one’s shoe—only if the home and hearth were clean. The Reformation viewed such whimsical notions unfavorably, associating them with Catholicism. Nonetheless, this earlier idea of placing a sixpence in a shoe may have inspired the later Victorian wedding tradition. It may have also played a part in the rising popularity of the tooth fairy in the early 20th century. 🧚🪙

Sing a Song of Sixpence 👃🐦‍⬛

The famous wedding rhyme isn’t the only notable poem about the sixpence. The traditional nursery rhyme “Sing a Song of Sixpence” dates back to 1744 and highlights the coin’s significance in British culture. Its whimsical imagery—blackbirds baked in a pie and a king counting his money—evokes feelings of surprise, wealth, and festivity.

It might even be fun to recite the poem while introducing the props for “Sixpence Ceremony”—the Kings, Queens, Jokers, and of course, the coins. There’s something delightful about taking something so well-known from childhood and discovering there’s still magic hiding in it. Here’s the version of the song as I remember it:

Sing a song of sixpence,
A pocket full of rye;
Four and twenty blackbirds
Baked in a pie.

When the pie was opened,
The birds began to sing;
Wasn’t that a dainty dish
To set before the king?

The king was in his counting house,
Counting out his money;
The queen was in the parlour,
Eating bread and honey.

The maid was in the garden,
Hanging out the clothes;
When down came a blackbird
And pecked off her nose.

The Magic of Crooked Coins

Ever since the introduction of the sixpence coin in the early 16th century, people have bent these coins to take them out of circulation and imbue them with magical powers. This practice transformed the coin into a personal talisman, commonly utilised to fend off witches, cure illnesses, honour a vow to a saint, and ensure safety during childbirth or perilous travels overseas. ⛵

A Post-Medieval silver sixpence of Elizabeth I (1558-1603) dating to 1596. Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons.

In a performance of “Sixpence Ceremony”, this tradition could justify visibly bending a sixpence and then invoking its power—e.g., bending awakens the coin’s magic, allowing the matching cards to “divine” themselves. By magically bending the fifth coin, you naturally remove it from the mixing and pairing process, leaving you with the required number of coins for the method to work. You could then leave this “magical talisman” with your participant as a gift and keepsake of your time together.

Or, as a follow-up to the “Sixpence Ceremony”, I’d be tempted to perform a classic coin bend on one of the sixpence pieces. In this moment, you might softly recite another old rhyme, one with a darker lilt:

There was a crooked man, and he walked a crooked mile,
He found a crooked sixpence against a crooked stile;
He bought a crooked cat, which caught a crooked mouse,
And they all lived together in a little crooked house.

This verse, first recorded in the 19th century, paints a strange and slightly haunting picture. Unlike the festive tone of “Sing a Song of Sixpence”, this rhyme hints at enchantment, odd luck, and twisting paths. When spoken aloud, as the sixpence warps in your closed fist, the rhyme takes on the quality of a spell. It’s as if the coin itself, once tied to weddings, wishes, and wealth, now reveals its other, darker side: mysterious, crooked, and touched by something supernatural.

If this approach feels too dark for your performance style, consider sharing this more lighthearted song about the sixpence with your audience. It’s called “Jolly Little Sixpence”, or sometimes “The Jolly Tester”. This delightful blend of sentimentality and comedic thrift serves as the perfect accompaniment to a whimsical coin-flurry-style routine. The lyrics lend themselves to being recited—or even sung—while you perform a series of magical effects, such as productions, transformations, or vanishes:

I love sixpence, jolly little sixpence,
I love sixpence better than my life;
I spent a penny of it, I lent a penny of it,
And I took fourpence home to my wife.

Oh, my little fourpence, jolly little fourpence.
I love fourpence better than my life.
I spent a penny of it, I lent a penny of it,
And I took twopence home to my wife.

Oh, my little twopence, jolly little twopence.
I love twopence better than my life.
I spent a penny of it, I lent a penny of it,
And I took nothing home to my wife.

Oh, my little nothing, jolly little nothing.
What will nothing buy for my wife?
I have nothing, I spend nothing.
I love nothing better than my wife.

I love the idea of collecting pre-decimal coins and weaving a little magic into this charming—if slightly cheeky—nursery rhyme. The poem’s progression lends itself beautifully to a miniature coin routine. You might begin with a silver sixpence (just over 19mm in diameter). Then transform it into a smaller Victorian groat (fourpence), around 16mm. Shrink it again into a twopence coin—perhaps a Maundy twopence (13 mm) or something even smaller—before making the final coin vanish altogether, echoing the poem’s bittersweet final verse.

The huge 1797 “cartwheel” twopenny coin. Photo Credit: Numista.

For a bold finale, you could flip the script and end with a bang: magically enlarge the twopence into a dramatic 1797 copper “cartwheel” twopenny coin—the largest coin ever struck for circulation in Britain, measuring a whopping 41mm. It’s an impressive, theatrical closer to this short but nostalgic coin routine.

Many of the existing coin-bending methods would work when performed as a follow-up effect with one of the sixpence coins. I’ve always liked David Penn’s “Coinvexed” (now available as Coinvexed 4th Generation by David Penn & TCC Magic).

Coinvexed by David Penn and TCC Magic. Video Credit: World Magic Shop via YouTube.

Another intriguing, unusual and somewhat disturbing ritual from 19th-century County Leitrim, Ireland, involves a groomsman presenting the groom with a crooked sixpence. The groom would then kill a magpie, cut the bird’s tongue with the coin, and bury it, along with a horse’s shoe, under the hearth iron, all in the name of good luck. I certainly don’t condone the killing of birds during your magic act, though! 

Interestingly, archaeological evidence suggests that bending sixpence coins is a long-standing tradition among individuals participating in religious or superstitious rituals such as this one from Ireland. In her academic paper “Keeping a Crooked Sixpence: Coin Magic and Religion in the Colonial Chesapeake”, Sara Rivers Cofield notes their varied uses:

Throughout this period, coin magic was practiced in the British Isles, and silver sixpences incorporated many of the symbolic properties that made them useful as protective amulets, emblems of vow-making, and other less defined representations of luck.

The paper discusses how many ordinary items, such as the silver sixpence, had magical applications and how these amulets and talismans provided genuine emotional benefits to those who believed in their power, such as sailors seeking good luck and fair weather at sea. It offers a fascinating exploration that aims to unravel the mystery of why someone would keep a bent sixpence long enough for it to show wear and then flatten it again before it entered the archaeological record. Although written for fellow archaeologists, the information in the paper provides invaluable insights for those looking to develop a more meaningful presentation for their sleight-of-hand coin magic. Below, I’ve summarised some of the most distinctive uses of the coins I discovered while reading the paper.

Newborn Traditions 👶❤

After its introduction in 1551, the silver sixpence quickly became a symbol of prosperity and good fortune. Even today, people celebrate the arrival of a new baby with the gift of a silver sixpence and use these coins to wish children well at christenings.

By the 19th century, it was common for sixpences to play a role in certain gifting traditions associated with the birth of a new baby. Visitors typically brought gifts for a newborn, which included a newly laid hen’s egg, a small packet of salt, and a sixpence when visiting the new mother. Some accounts say the silver sixpence predicted the child’s future personality. The coin was placed in the infant’s right hand; if grasped tightly, it signified tightfistedness; if held loosely, it indicated generosity; and if it fell to the ground, it suggested prodigality (wasteful extravagance). This tradition continued into the 20th century in some rural areas. 

The small silver coin was also used to cope with a mother’s heartbreak. Between the 1740s and 1760s, coins—sometimes deliberately bent or shaped like the letter “S”—were among the many tokens left with infants at the Foundling Hospital in London. The hospital’s policy was to accept children anonymously, offering mothers the hope of reclaiming their child if circumstances changed. Because no names were exchanged, mothers would leave small, distinctive objects such as coins, scraps of fabric, buttons, or ribbons.

A Queen Anne Shilling bent into an S shape and used as a love token. Photo Credit: The Foundling Museum.

The hospital carefully recorded and preserved these tokens, serving as a means of identification should a parent later return. In this context, a bent coin may have symbolised a bond of affection or a silent promise to return—a physical manifestation of love, memory, and hope for reunion. 

For more information about this bittersweet tradition, I recommend navigating the Foundling Museum’s online exhibition, Tokens of History.

Churn Spells and Dairy Magic 🐄

In Yorkshire, dairymaids kept a crooked sixpence on hand to use as a “churn spell”. They would drop it into any cream that stubbornly refused to turn into butter, believing that the difficulty was caused by the curses of malevolent witches.

Even in the 1880s, bent silver coins in Scotland were still used for this purpose and cherished over long periods. These coins could be tossed into the churn, placed beneath it, warmed and added to milk, or even buried at the four corners of the dairy.

Bullets for Witches! 🧹

For stubborn witches who couldn’t be deterred by the mere presence of a sixpence, folklore recommended something more substantial: silver ammunition! Tales from Scotland and Pennsylvania claimed that silver sixpence coins were used to shoot shape-shifting witches—often disguised as hares—when regular bullets failed to stop them.

In many parts of Britain—especially Scotland, Wales, Devon, and Yorkshire—it was widely believed that witches could transform into hares. The reasons varied: to steal milk from cows, escape danger, spy on neighbours, or simply wander the countryside under the cover of night. These weren’t ordinary hares—there were always signs that something supernatural was afoot.

One well-known story tells of a hare repeatedly sneaking into barns at night to steal milk. When a farm’s milk yield mysteriously dropped, locals didn’t blame the weather or the cows—they blamed witchcraft.

Time after time, villagers sent their dogs after this mysterious creature, but it always escaped. That is, until one determined hound managed to land a bite. The very next day, a local woman was seen nursing a wound in the exact same spot—and just like that, her secret was out.

According to legend, no ordinary weapon could harm a witch in animal form. Only silver would suffice—whether a bullet or a coin. Moreover, not just any coin would work: in some tales, it had to be bent or “crooked” to break the spell. It is little wonder that silver sixpences, especially crooked ones, came to be regarded as charms against witchcraft.

This is one of my favourite sixpence stories—it sounds so wonderfully odd to modern ears. It doesn’t quite fit the romantic tone of “Sixpence Ceremony”, but it would make an excellent hook for a witch-themed routine using a silver sixpence or an Irish threepence, which features a rather handsome hare on its reverse (or is it a witch-hare!). Here’s a classic folk tale featuring a witch-hare for you to enjoy.

The Witch-Hare of Tavistock 🐇

Adapted from The Borders of the Tamar and the Tavy (Volume II, 1879) by Anna Eliza Bray

Long ago, an old woman lived on the outskirts of Tavistock. Although many whispered that she was a witch, few dared to speak it aloud. Whenever she was short of money, she would transform into a hare and send her young grandson to notify a local huntsman.

“A hare is sitting just beyond the copse,” the boy would say, always naming a different spot. For his tip, the huntsman gave him a silver sixpence.

Each time the hunt was called, the dogs would give chase—but no matter how close they came, the hare was never caught. This happened repeatedly, and soon some began to suspect that more than mere cunning was at play. One huntsman put it plainly: “There’s devilry in this dance, and it won’t end on its own.”

A magistrate and a local clergyman were consulted. Together, they devised a plan to catch the witch at her game. Knowing the boy’s visits followed a regular pattern, they prepared to strike the next time he came with news of a hare.

The plan hinged on a neighbour, unfriendly to the old woman, who agreed to keep watch. When the witch and her grandson left their cottage together—the one to run as a hare, the other to set the hunt in motion—he would send word.

The signal came. The hounds were unkennelled, and the hunting party set off faster than usual. The witch had not expected such a swift pursuit in her hare form. The chase was frantic, and the boy, panicked by the scene, shouted, “Run, Granny, run—run for your life!”

At last, the hare slipped away, vanishing through a small hole in the door of her cottage, too narrow for the hounds to follow.

The huntsmen arrived moments later and tried to break down the door, but it held fast. Only when the parson and the justice arrived did the door give way—law and church proving stronger than any enchantment.

Inside, they found the old woman upstairs, panting, bloodied, and covered in scratches. She swore she’d never left the house, ranted and raged, and denied everything. But the huntsman—still unconvinced—called for the hounds: “Bring them in—let’s see what they make of her. Perhaps the hunt isn’t over yet.”

At this, the woman broke. She begged for mercy. Her grandson fell to his knees beside her, pleading with the men. Mercy was granted—but not without punishment. Both were let off with a good whipping. The huntsman, well-practised in the chase, turned his skills from hare to human.

Yet this wasn’t the end of the tale.

Later, the old woman was put on trial for witchcraft—specifically for causing a young woman to spit pins, a common sign of bewitchment in those days. The entire story of the hunts and the hare was presented as evidence. And in the end, the old witch met her fate at the stake—her final chapter written in fire.

Religious Significance: Healing & Pilgrimage ✝️

A bent sixpence coin sometimes symbolised a vow to a saint, meant to be taken on a pilgrimage and offered in gratitude after healing or a safe return. The sixpence was widely regarded as a charm representing the curative nature of the royal touch (due to the portrait of the reigning king or queen on the obverse of the coin). Moreover, coins depicting monarchs could serve as alternative medicine when the actual touch of the monarch was not easily accessible, such as in a colony far from the royal family.

Divination: Fortune-Telling Through Cakes & Coins 🔮

The 19th-century use of sixpences for divination extended well beyond predicting a baby’s personality. A popular tradition involved baking a sixpence into a cake, Christmas pudding, or even creamed potatoes—often alongside other symbolic items like a ring or a thimble—to foretell the destinies of those partaking in the meal. Whoever found the sixpence was destined to die rich. The ring foretold marriage within the year, while the thimble was a sign that the finder would never marry. Yet perhaps worse than the thimble was finding nothing at all—an omen of early death!

One of the most enduring versions of this tradition is the Christmas pudding ritual. On Stir-up Sunday—the last Sunday before Advent—families gather to mix the pudding, often dropping a sixpence into the batter for luck. Whoever finds the coin in their slice on Christmas Day is said to enjoy good fortune or wealth in the year ahead. This particular custom dates back to the Victorian era and remains alive in many households today.

In mine, my mother always tucked a silver coin into the pudding—usually a five-pence piece in place of a sixpence. Most years, no one could find it. My mother, worried someone might accidentally swallow the thing, would end up dismantling the entire pudding just to track it down, thus preventing both misfortune and a Christmas Day medical emergency!

Final Thoughts

The humble sixpence, so small in stature yet mighty in cultural significance, offers magicians a wealth of presentational opportunities. When performing “Sixpence Ceremony” or any routine involving this storied coin, you’re not just handling metal—you’re holding history, folklore, and magic in your palm.

The beauty of incorporating sixpence lore into your performances lies in its versatility. Whether your persona leans towards the romantic (with tales of wedding traditions and love tokens), the historical (exploring pre-decimal currency and royal connections), or the mystical (delving into protective charms and witch-hunting), there’s a sixpence story to complement your style of magic.

This approach transforms a mathematical card trick into something more meaningful. By weaving in cultural references and historical anecdotes, “Will the Cards Match?” becomes more than just a clever method—it becomes a journey through time, connecting audiences to traditions that span centuries.

For the practical-minded magician, consider building a small collection of pre-decimal coins. Even a single authentic sixpence can add tremendous value to your performance, serving as both a prop and a genuine artefact. Imagine the impact of placing a real Victorian sixpence into a spectator’s hand after performing the routine, perhaps as a gift or keepsake.

Remember that the most compelling magic doesn’t just fool—it resonates. When your spectators leave with a sense of wonder and a newfound appreciation for cultural history, you’ve created something far more lasting than momentary amazement. You’ve crafted an experience that lingers in memory, much like the crooked sixpence that finds its way into folklore, wedding shoes, and Christmas puddings year after year.

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Bibliography

• Cofield, Sara Rivers. “Keeping a Crooked Sixpence: Coin Magic and Religion in the Colonial Chesapeake.” Historical Archaeology 48, no. 3 (2014): 84–105. http://www.jstor.org/stable/43491310.
• Gershon, Livia, “The Magic of a Crooked Sixpence.” December 8, 2023. https://daily.jstor.org/the-magic-of-a-crooked-sixpence/. 
• Silver Sixpence, “Facts About Sixpence Coins.” Accessed April 16, 2025. https://silversixpence.com/facts-about-sixpence-coins/.
• Tilly Online, “An Introduction to the Sixpence.” Accessed April 16, 2025. https://www.tilly-online.com/sixpences/.
• Wikipedia. 2005. “Sixpence (British coin).” Last modified April 10, 2025. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sixpence_(British_coin).