Halfpenny (British Pre-decimal Coin) - The United Kingdom

The United Kingdom

Soon after the accession of King George I (1714–1727) the surplus of copper coins was used up, and in 1717 a new contract was signed and a Royal Warrant issued for the production of a new halfpenny. The halfpennies struck in 1717 and 1718 looked slightly odd as they were smaller, thicker and somewhat lighter than the previous issues, weighing 9.4–10.3 grams with a diameter of 25–27 millimetres, but they were well-struck with high-relief features of the right-facing head of King George and the inscription on the obverse, and Britannia with the inscription and the date in the exergue beneath Britannia. The 1717–1718 issue is known as the dump halfpenny. For the 1719–1724 issue, the size of the coin was increased to 26–29 millimetres, though with the same weight of metal as before.

George II's (1727–1760) halfpennies were the most prolific issue yet, but to them must be added a huge range of counterfeits (and pieces similar to counterfeits but with markedly different legends from the real coins, so that the manufacturers could avoid accusations of counterfeiting). Many genuine coins were melted down and underweight fabrications produced from the molten metal. It is difficult for those of us who use a modern regulated currency to appreciate the extent to which counterfeiting had debased the currency – for long periods of time, counterfeits outnumbered genuine coins. Halfpennies were produced in all years between 1729 and 1754, with the exception of 1741. They weighed 9.7–10.3 grams and had a diameter of 28–30 millimetres. The obverse showed the left-facing head of King George and the inscription on the obverse, and Britannia with the inscription and the date in the exergue beneath Britannia.