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½ Penny - George III 3rd issue (1799)
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Year | 1799 |
| Denomination | ½ Penny |
| Mint | Royal Mint · Llantrisant |
| Circulation | Circulating |
| Demonetised | 1869 |
| Composition | Copper |
| Weight | 12.600g |
| Diameter | 30.0mm |
| Thickness | 2.40mm |
| Shape | Round |
| Edge | Grained |
| Orientation | Coin alignment ↑↓ |
| Obv. artist | Conrad Heinrich Küchler |
| Rev. artist | Conrad Heinrich Küchler |
| Grade scale | UK (EF/UNC) |
Laureate and draped bust of King George III facing right, legend around.
Seated figure of Britannia facing left, trident in left hand, olive branch in right, shield with Union flag resting on left, legend around, date in exergue.
Halfpenny - George III 3rd issue market value
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AffiliateHalfpenny - George III 3rd issue price history
Daily limit reachedHalfpenny - George III 3rd issue value by grade
Realised auction prices · ⭐ Pro Expand rows for individual sale records| Grade | Latest | Median | 30d Δ | All-time range | Sales (1yr) | Total sales | Last sale | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UNC | £50.00 🔒 | £55.00 | – | £34.00 – £360.00 | 3 | 42 | 06-09-2026 | |
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| EF | £42.00 🔒 | £42.00 (1) | – | £24.00 – £65.00 | 1 | 7 | 08-03-2026 | |
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| VF | £55.00 🔒 | £31.37 (2) | – | £7.74 – £55.00 | 2 | 7 | 06-09-2026 | |
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| G | £180.00 🔒 | £57.50 | – | £34.00 – £180.00 | 0 | 10 | 01-06-2014 | |
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| MS-62 | £80.00 🔒 | £80.00 (1) | – | £80.00 – £80.00 | 0 | 1 | 20-09-2024 | |
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About the 1799 Halfpenny - George III 3rd issue
The 1799 Halfpenny - George III 3rd issue is a circulating ½ penny coin, struck in copper. It weighs 12.6g and measures 30mm across. Reverse design: Seated figure of Britannia facing left, trident in left hand, olive branch in right, shield with Union flag resting on left, legend around, date in exergue.
It is no longer legal tender (withdrawn 1869), so its value is to collectors only.
Common questions
How much is the 1799 Halfpenny - George III 3rd issue worth?
Verified sold prices for the 1799 Halfpenny - George III 3rd issue run from £31.37 to £80.00 across 5 grades, taking the median for each grade. Condition makes the difference, so check the grade table above before pricing one.
Who made the 1799 halfpenny?
It was struck by Matthew Boulton at his Soho Mint in Birmingham under contract, not at the Royal Mint in London. The Royal Mint and the Ashmolean Museum both credit the dies to Conrad Heinrich Küchler, whose K initial appears on the truncation of the bust on some strikings.
How many 1799 halfpennies were made?
Coin Hunter gives 42,481,116. CoinVarieties, citing the Spink and Krause catalogues, records the mintage as unknown but describes the coin as common. No Royal Mint figure was found, so the number should be treated as a collector reference figure.
Is my large 1799 coin a penny?
Almost certainly not. Tony Clayton notes that coins dated 1799 that people think are pennies are always halfpennies, which are large enough to be mistaken for them. The Soho pennies of this period are the 1797 cartwheel and the 1806 to 1808 issue.
Is a 1799 halfpenny still legal tender?
No. Tony Clayton records that copper coins were demonetised on 31 December 1869 and accepted by the Mint at face value until 30 July 1873, after the introduction of the smaller bronze coinage in 1860.
How do I identify the 1799 Halfpenny - George III 3rd issue?
Check the weight 12.6g and diameter 30mm and the metal (copper) against the specification table on this page. The reverse design is described above.
History and design
After the Tower halfpennies of 1770 to 1775 no official halfpenny was struck for 24 years. Tony Clayton notes that Matthew Boulton had planned halfpence and farthings in the style of his 1797 cartwheel penny, but the government feared this would create a demand that Boulton could not meet. The Royal Mint's own account says that from 1797 copper coinage was contracted to Boulton, and halfpennies were made at his Soho Mint in Birmingham. The result was this larger halfpenny, dated 1799 only.
Coin Hunter gives 42,481,116 struck, ten times its figure for the 1799 farthing. CoinVarieties records the mintage as unknown but calls the coin common. Smaller Soho halfpennies followed in 1806 and 1807.
The dies were engraved by Conrad Heinrich Küchler, credited by both the Royal Mint and the Ashmolean Museum. The obverse shows a laureate, draped bust of George III facing right with GEORGIVS III DEI GRATIA REX; some strikings in the Ashmolean show a small K on the truncation. The reverse has Britannia seated left holding an olive branch and a trident, with a shield at her side, with BRITANNIA above and the date in the exergue. Aberdeen's museum records add a ship at lower left and the word SOHO.
The coin measures about 30 mm. Clayton points out that the edge carries an incuse pattern around the middle of its whole circumference, described by the Royal Mint Museum as engrailed and by the Ashmolean as centre-grained.
Collecting notes
Clayton notes that coins dated 1799 believed to be pennies are always these halfpennies. Check the edge graining, which is part of the original striking, and the fine detail of the ship and Britannia's shield, which wear first. The Royal Mint Museum's examples weigh 12.08 g to 12.8 g.
Boulton also made patterns and specimen strikings, including bronzed and gilt pieces now in the Ashmolean's Soho collection, and Clayton notes, for the Soho coppers of this period, later strikes by Boulton in various metals and by W.J. Taylor after he bought the dies. These are covered on the 1799 proof and pattern pages. A circulating coin has the ordinary copper surface and normal wear.
Sources
The history, design, varieties and collecting notes on this page are drawn from these sources. Prices come from recorded sales, not from them.
- George III 1799-1807 Halfpenny, The Royal Mint (read 12 Oct 2026)
- Coins of George III (Seaby 3778), Wildwinds (read 12 Oct 2026)
- Halfpenny, 1799 (late Soho), HCR152599, with HCR152595, HCR152602 and HCR152607, Heberden Coin Room, Ashmolean Museum (read 12 Oct 2026)
- George III halfpenny, 1799 (RMM 1112), with RMM 1111, 1113 and 1114, The Royal Mint Museum, via Museum Data Service (read 12 Oct 2026)
- Object search: halfpenny dated 1799 issued by George III (Culture Perth and Kinross BC605, BC613, BC616 to BC618), Culture Perth and Kinross, via Museum Data Service (read 12 Oct 2026)
- Object search: halfpenny 1799 Soho (Aberdeen ABDMS003938), Aberdeen Archives, Gallery and Museums, via Museum Data Service (read 12 Oct 2026)
- 1799 Coin Values, George III, Coin Hunter (read 12 Oct 2026)
- The Halfpenny, Tony Clayton, Coins of the UK (read 12 Oct 2026)
- The Penny, Tony Clayton, Coins of the UK (read 12 Oct 2026)
- Great Britain 1799 half penny, CoinVarieties (read 12 Oct 2026)
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