Shove Ha'penny
BGG rank
BGG #23,215
BGG rating
6.1

Shove Ha'penny

1840

Rules assistance for Shove Ha'penny

Plain-language explanations of turns, card effects and disputed situations, with official source references and saved question history.

  • 2 players
  • 1–30 min
  • Complexity 1.3/5

For 2 players

Rules assistant for Shove Ha'penny

What would you like to know?

Answers come from the official rulebook, with the page to check.

Shove Ha'penny is a board game released in 1840 for 2 players and 1–30 minutes per game.

Similar games

About the game

Shove ha'penny is a traditional British pub (tavern) game of dexterity and skill dating from the the mid 19th Century, with earlier variants in existence as early as the 15th Century. It is still widely played today. Players push ('shove') polished coins (half pennies, traditionally) along a board which has been marked out in horizontal bands, called 'beds'. The most common method is to place the coin on the bottom edge of the board, slightly overhanging, and tap it with the heel of the hand. The aim of the game is to position coins within the beds, with no part touching the bands. This requires considerable skill. Players must get a coin in each bed three times. Each success is scored, often with a cribbage style peg and hole system up the side of the board or with chalk tallies. Boards are made of wood or slate.

Publishers

  • (Public Domain)
  • John Jaques of London
  • ABRA
  • K & C Ltd

Questions and answers

Shove Ha'penny supports 2 players according to the catalogue. This is the publisher’s listed player count, so the game is designed for exactly that number of participants. Variants for other group sizes, if any, are described in the rulebook of your edition, so check it before setting up a different configuration.