Why was the Victorian high-wheeler machine better known as the penny-farthing?
Answer
It visually resembled the large penny coin next to the much smaller farthing coin.
The unique nomenclature of the penny-farthing bicycle stemmed entirely from its visual appearance when viewed from the side. The enormous front wheel represented the large British penny coin, while the small rear wheel symbolized the much smaller farthing coin. This direct visual analogy captured the machine's defining feature—the massive disparity in wheel sizes—and solidified its popular name in the Victorian era. The machine itself operated on mechanical principles of direct drive, which necessitated this size difference to achieve speed, but the name itself was purely descriptive of its look.
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