# What is a 'Joey' coin?

A 'Joey' is a groat — nicknamed after Joseph Hume, M.P., who campaigned for the small coin to make paying short cab-fares easier. Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898), human-proofread transcription on English Wikisource records: “A groat; so called from Joseph Hume, M.P., who strongly recommended the coinage for the sake of paying short cab-fares, etc. ( Hawkins: History of the Silver Coinage of England. )”

## What it means

- Verbatim from Brewer's (1898): A groat; so called from Joseph Hume, M.P., who strongly recommended the coinage for the sake of paying short cab-fares, etc. ( Hawkins: History of the Silver Coinage of England. )

## Action steps

1. Modern usage: A 'Joey' is a groat — nicknamed after Joseph Hume, M.P., who campaigned for the small coin to make paying short cab-fares easier.
2. When quoting the origin, cite Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898) — this is a 19th-century record, not a modern etymology.

## Sources

- [Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898) — Wikisource proofread text](https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Brewer%27s_Dictionary_of_Phrase_and_Fable/Joey)

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Published: 2026-07-18T14:09:18.640416+00:00
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Last verified: 2026-07-18
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