½ Penny - Elizabeth II 2nd portrait (1982–1984)

One row for each year the ½ Penny - Elizabeth II 2nd portrait 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. 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 1982 Halfpenny - Elizabeth II

The 1982 Halfpenny - Elizabeth II is a circulating ½ penny coin issued from 1982 to 1984, struck in bronze. It weighs 1.78g and measures 17.14mm across. Reverse design: Central crown of St. Edward, denomination in letters above and numerals below.

Mintage figures are recorded for 3 years between 1982 and 1984, 198,510,820 coins in all. 1984 is the scarcest date, with 158,820 struck. It is no longer legal tender (withdrawn 1984), so its value is to collectors only.

Common questions

History and design

The decimal halfpenny was introduced on 15 February 1971 with the 1p and 2p. The Royal Mint says it was thought that so small a denomination would help the public relate the new coinage to the old. For its first eleven years the reverse read NEW PENNY. The word NEW was dropped from the bronze coins in 1982, and this type, reading HALF PENNY, is the result.

It did not last. The BBC reported on 1 February 1984 that the Chancellor, Nigel Lawson, had announced in a written Commons answer that the Royal Mint would stop making the coin at the end of that month, and that it had become more expensive to make than its face value. By the BBC's account about 2.5 billion were still in circulation. The halfpenny was demonetised and withdrawn in December 1984.

The Royal Mint's figures show 190,752,000 struck for circulation dated 1982 and 7,600,000 dated 1983. The 1983 figure is the lowest of the twelve circulating dates of the denomination. Coins dated 1984 were made for collector sets only.

Christopher Ironside's reverse shows St Edward's Crown, with HALF PENNY above and the fraction ½ below. It is one of the set of reverses he prepared for the decimal coinage after winning a public competition.

The obverse has Arnold Machin's portrait of the Queen, the only portrait the halfpenny ever carried, since the coin ended before the change of effigy in 1985. The coin is bronze with a plain edge. Tony Clayton's reference notes that it was the smallest circulating coin of the decimal series in size as well as value, and the Royal Mint Museum records that its small size drew criticism as early as Decimal Day.

Collecting notes

No decimal halfpenny is legal tender, so none of these coins can be spent or will be found in change.

The date matters more than usual on this type. A 1982 coin is common. A 1983 coin comes from a much smaller issue, the lowest for any circulating decimal halfpenny in the Royal Mint's figures. A 1984 coin was never issued for circulation and should have come from a Mint set or Proof set of that year. No recognised varieties or mint errors are documented for this coin.

Check the wording above the crown before anything else. HALF PENNY places a coin in this type, while NEW PENNY belongs to the 1971 to 1981 type.