½ Penny - Elizabeth II 1st portrait without 'BRITT:OMN' (1954–1970)

One row for each year the ½ Penny - Elizabeth II 1st portrait – without 'BRITT:OMN' was struck. Prices are medians of verified sold listings matched to that year from the listing: circulated is worn condition up to Extremely Fine, uncirculated is About Uncirculated or better. A count in brackets means fewer than three sales behind the figure; a grey figure marked "type" is the median across every year, shown where that year has no sale of its own yet; years with no sales yet fill in as sales are recorded. Most types have been searched year by year only since October 2026, so later years are still filling in. Use the grade table below for a price by condition across all years.

About the 1954 Halfpenny - Elizabeth II – without 'BRITT:OMN'

The 1954 Halfpenny - Elizabeth II – without 'BRITT:OMN' is a circulating ½ penny coin issued from 1954 to 1970, struck in bronze. It weighs 5.67g and measures 25.4mm across. Reverse design: Three-masted ship sailing left, denomination above, date below.

Mintage figures are recorded for 13 years between 1954 and 1967, 789,104,800 coins in all. 1955 is the scarcest date, with 18,465,600 struck. It is no longer legal tender (withdrawn 1969), so its value is to collectors only.

Common questions

History and design

From 1954 the halfpenny was struck with the revised obverse that dropped BRITT OMN from the Queen's titles, and it ran in this form until the last circulating date, 1967. Tony Clayton states that no halfpence were issued dated 1961, so the series has a gap between 1960 and 1962.

Output grew through the reign. Coin Hunter's figures, which match Wikipedia's rounded list, start at 19,375,000 for 1954 and reach 146,491,200 for 1967, with 791,755,000 struck across the thirteen dates. The Royal Mint Museum explains that hoarding ahead of decimalisation was countered by keeping the date 1967 on all new pre-decimal coins struck before Decimal Day.

The halfpenny did not survive to see the change. The Museum records that it had no role after decimalisation and clashed in size with the new 2p, so it was withdrawn early. A royal proclamation of 25 June 1969 called in all halfpennies, and after 31 July 1969 they were no longer legal tender.

The obverse carries Mary Gillick's portrait with the shorter legend ELIZABETH II DEI GRATIA REGINA F D. Clayton describes the portrait on these dates as sharper than on the 1953 coins, in line with the Royal Mint Museum's account of the Mint engraving it more deeply after it first appeared.

The reverse is Humphrey Paget's Golden Hind, Sir Francis Drake's ship, which the Museum records was designed in 1936 and used on the halfpenny from 1937 until decimalisation. The design stayed the same throughout, but Clayton lists a series of reverse dies from 1954 to 1963 that differ in the height of the ship, the border teeth and the treatment of the sea.

Varieties and errors

The recognised variety is the 1957 calm sea, which Coin Hunter and Clayton both list separately from the ordinary 1957 coin. Clayton also records reverse die types by the ship's height from mainmast tip to sea, from 18.5mm to 19.2mm, which specialists use to separate dies within a date.

Collecting notes

The 1954 and 1955 dates have the lowest figures, while 1967 is the commonest. Coins dated 1970 are proofs from the final sets and, as Clayton notes, were never legal tender.

The legend tells this type from the 1953 BRITT OMN halfpenny.