Halfpenny (British Pre-decimal Coin)

Halfpenny (British Pre-decimal Coin)

The British halfpenny coin was worth 1/480th of a pound sterling. At first in its 700 year history it was made from silver but as the value of silver increased, the coin was made from base metals. It was finally abandoned in 1969 as part of the process of decimalising the British currency. "Halfpenny", colloquially written ha'penny, was pronounced /ˈheɪpəni/HAY-pə-nee; 1½d was spoken as a penny ha'penny /əˈpɛniˈheɪpni/ or three ha'pence /θriːˈheɪpəns/.

It was long considered that the first halfpenny coins were produced in the reign of King Edward I (1272–1307), with earlier requirements for small change being provided by "cut coinage"; that is, pennies cut into halves or quarters, usually along the cross which formed a prominent part of the reverse of the coin. However, in recent years metal detectorists have discovered a few halfpennies of Kings Henry I (1100–1135) and Henry III (1216–1272) – these are extremely rare and very little is known about them; they have all been found in the London area, where they circulated alongside the more common cut coinage, and while it is possible that these coins were patterns or trials, it is clear that they did see circulation. No documentary evidence of these coins is known to exist, and it is possible that there are other coins or issues still to be discovered.