Half Penny Coins

<- Click Here to go back to the other Coins in Circulation page

The half penny was a fairly short lived decimal denomination, struck from 1971 to 1984. It was necessary due to the fact that the old sixpence (with a decimal face value of 2.5p) continued in use up until 1980 and it also gave merchants the ability to charge for things in nearly as small units as they could previously with the old money.

Specifications are shown at the bottom of this page.

Obverse Type 1, used for all, 1971 – 1984 (bust design by Arnold Machin):

halfpennyobv

Reverse Type 1, used 1971 – 1981 (design by Christopher Ironside):

halfpennynew

Edge: Plain.

The design:

St Edward’s crown. ‘NEW PENNY’ above, ‘1/2’ below.

Dates:

1971, Mintage 1,394,188,250.
1972, None for circulation – 107,807 for annual proof sets only.
1973, Mintage 365,680,000.
1974, Mintage 365,448,000.
1975, Mintage 197,600,000.
1976, Mintage 412,172,000.
1977, Mintage 66,368,000.
1978, Mintage 59,532,000.
1979, Mintage 219,132,000.
1980, Mintage 202,788,000.
1981, Mintage 46,748,000.

Collectability/Scarcity: 1 for the high mintage coins, 2 for 1972 (for scale details see here)

 

Obverse Type 1, used 1971 – 1984 (bust design by Arnold Machin):

halfpennyobv

Reverse Type 2, used 1982 – 1984 (design by Christopher Ironside):

halfpennyhalf

Edge: Plain.

The design:

St Edward’s crown. ‘HALF PENNY’ above, ‘1/2’ below.

Dates:

1982, Mintage 190,752,000.
1983, Mintage 7,600,000.
1984, None for circulation – 265,340 for annual proof/BU sets.

Collectability/Scarcity: 1 for 1982 and 1983, 2 for 1984 (for scale details see here)

 

Specifications for all Half Penny coins:

Size: 17.14mm
Width: 1mm
Metal Composition: Bronze (97% copper, 2.5% zinc, 0.5% tin)
Weight: 1.78 grammes

<- Click Here to go back to the other Coins in Circulation page