Common: 10,000,000 or more minted. Sells often: 28 verified sales in the last 12 months.
½ Penny - George V modified effigy (1925–1927)
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Year | 1925–1927 |
| Denomination | ½ Penny |
| Mintage by year |
Scarcest year: 6,712,300 struck
|
| Mint | Royal Mint · Llantrisant |
| Circulation | Circulating |
| Demonetised | 1969 |
| Composition | Bronze |
| Weight | 5.670g |
| Diameter | 25.5mm |
| Thickness | 1.40mm |
| Shape | Round |
| Edge | Plain |
| Orientation | Medal alignment ↑↑ |
| Obv. artist | Bertram Mackennal |
| Rev. artist | Leonard Charles Wyon |
| Grade scale | UK (EF/UNC) |
Uncrowned portrait of King George V facing left, legend around.
GEORGIVS V DEI GRA: BRITT: OMN: REX FID: DEF: IND: IMP:
Seated figure of Britannia right, trident in left hand, shield bearing the Union flag in right, denomination around, date in exergue, sea behind.
HALF PENNY
Halfpenny - George V modified effigy market value
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AffiliateHalfpenny - George V modified effigy price history
Daily limit reachedHalfpenny - George V modified effigy value by year
1925 to 1927 · median sold prices| Year | Mintage | Circulated | Uncirculated | Sales | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1925 | 12,216,100 | £4.59 | £38.00 | 20 | |
|
VF£12.50EF£28.00UNC£95.00
⭐ Pro: the 1925 coin's sales by grade, and the chart filtered to one year
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| 1926 scarcest | 6,712,300 | £1.76 | £38.00 type | 3 | |
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VF£12.50EF£28.00UNC£95.00
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| 1927 | 15,589,600 | £2.03 | £24.93 (2) | 13 | |
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VF£12.50EF£28.00UNC£95.00
⭐ Pro: the 1927 coin's sales by grade, and the chart filtered to one year
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One row for each year the ½ Penny - George V modified effigy 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.
Halfpenny - George V modified effigy 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 | £44.35 🔒 eBay | £38.00 | – | £5.50 – £120.00 | 2 | 9 | 07-10-2026 | |
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| VF | £42.00 🔒 eBay | £2.30 | – | £0.63 – £42.00 | 25 | 25 | 12-10-2026 | |
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| G | £36.00 🔒 | £36.00 (1) | – | £36.00 – £36.00 | 0 | 1 | 02-09-2012 | |
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| Fair | £1.19 🔒 eBay | £1.19 (1) | – | £1.19 – £1.19 | 1 | 1 | 01-09-2026 | |
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About the 1925 Halfpenny - George V modified effigy
The 1925 Halfpenny - George V modified effigy is a circulating ½ penny coin issued from 1925 to 1927, struck in bronze. It weighs 5.67g and measures 25.5mm across. Reverse design: Seated figure of Britannia right, trident in left hand, shield bearing the Union flag in right, denomination around, date in exergue, sea behind.
Mintage figures are recorded for 3 years between 1925 and 1927, 34,518,000 coins in all. 1926 is the scarcest date, with 6,712,300 struck. It is no longer legal tender (withdrawn 1969), so its value is to collectors only.
Common questions
How much is the 1925 Halfpenny - George V modified effigy worth?
Verified sold prices for the 1925 Halfpenny - George V modified effigy run from £1.19 to £38.00 across 4 grades, taking the median for each grade. Condition makes the difference, so check the grade table above before pricing one.
What is the modified effigy halfpenny?
It is the George V halfpenny struck from 1925 to 1927 with an altered version of Mackennal's portrait. Tony Clayton records that the obverse and reverse were both changed during 1925, and that the head was changed again in 1928, when it was made noticeably smaller.
How many 1926 halfpennies were made?
6,712,000 according to Wikipedia and CoinVarieties, which makes 1926 the lowest of the three dates. Coin Hunter prints 6,172,306, which appears to swap two digits. None of these is a Royal Mint figure, so treat the exact number with some caution.
Are 1925 modified effigy halfpennies scarcer than the first portrait?
No published figure splits the 12,216,123 halfpennies of 1925 between the two portraits, so their relative scarcity cannot be stated from mintage. Clayton records that the two changes came in together and no mules are known.
Are proofs of this halfpenny known?
Yes, but rarely. CoinVarieties records proofs for 1926 and 1927 and quotes an auction note that the 1927 proof sets sold to collectors contained only the silver coins, leaving bronze proofs of that year as rare pieces outside the sets.
How do I identify the 1925 Halfpenny - George V modified effigy?
Check the weight 5.67g and diameter 25.5mm and the metal (bronze) against the specification table on this page. The reverse design is described above.
History and design
Tony Clayton explains that the deep relief of the King's head on the bronze coins caused ghosting, a faint image of the portrait showing on the reverse, which he and Wikipedia describe for the penny. CoinVarieties notes that all the circulating denominations suffered similar striking problems. During 1925 the halfpenny was given a modified effigy, and Clayton records that the reverse was changed at the same time.
The type lasted only three dates. The 1925 total of 12,216,123 includes coins with the first portrait, so the modified effigy cannot be counted separately for that year. 1926 is the lowest date at 6,712,000 in Wikipedia's and CoinVarieties' figures, and 1927 the highest at 15,589,622. In 1928 the head was replaced again by a noticeably smaller one.
The obverse is Bertram Mackennal's bare head of the King facing left in its modified form, with GEORGIVS V DEI GRA: BRITT: OMN: REX FID: DEF: IND: IMP: and his initials B M on the truncation. The reverse is Britannia seated on a rock in the sea with shield and trident, HALF PENNY around and the date below, in the modified 1925 form of Leonard Charles Wyon's design. The edge is plain.
Collecting notes
This is the shortest of the three George V halfpenny types and the natural link between the first portrait and the smaller head. Clayton states that no mules are recorded from the 1925 change, so any 1925 coin should pair matching sides. Proofs of 1926 and 1927 are recorded by CoinVarieties but are rarely offered. No recognised varieties or mint errors are documented for this type.
The Royal Mint Museum records that the halfpenny ceased to be legal tender from 31 July 1969. The first portrait halfpenny came before this type and the smaller portrait halfpenny of 1928 to 1936 after it.
Sources
The history, design, varieties and collecting notes on this page are drawn from these sources. Prices come from recorded sales, not from them.
- Proclamation determining new designs for gold and bronze coins (London Gazette issue 28442, 29 November 1910, page 8941), The Gazette (read 10 Oct 2026)
- Great Britain 1927 half penny, CoinVarieties (read 10 Oct 2026)
- Great Britain 1925 half penny, CoinVarieties (read 10 Oct 2026)
- Halfpenny (British pre-decimal coin), Wikipedia (read 10 Oct 2026)
- Initials on British coins, TreasureRealm (read 10 Oct 2026)
- Coin values by year, George V (year pages 1925 to 1927, read one by one), Coin Hunter (read 10 Oct 2026)
- Halfpenny and farthing, Royal Mint Museum (read 10 Oct 2026)
- The Halfpenny, Tony Clayton, Coins of the UK (read 10 Oct 2026)
- Great Britain 1926 half penny, CoinVarieties (read 10 Oct 2026)
- History of the British penny (1901 to 1970), Wikipedia (read 10 Oct 2026)
- 1925 George V Maundy Set, The Royal Mint (read 10 Oct 2026)
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