½ Penny - George VI with 'IND:IMP' (1937–1948)

One row for each year the ½ Penny - George VI with 'IND:IMP' 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 1937 Halfpenny - George VI with 'IND:IMP'

The 1937 Halfpenny - George VI with 'IND:IMP' is a circulating ½ penny coin issued from 1937 to 1948, struck in bronze. It weighs 5.67g and measures 25.5mm across. Reverse design: Three-masted ship sailing left, denomination above, date below.

Mintage figures are recorded for 12 years between 1937 and 1948, 528,919,200 coins in all. 1947 is the scarcest date, with 21,266,400 struck. It is no longer legal tender (withdrawn 1969), so its value is to collectors only.

Common questions

History and design

For more than two centuries the halfpenny had shown Britannia. The Royal Mint Museum records that she gave way in 1937, when a sailing ship was adopted for the halfpenny and a wren for the farthing. The royal proclamation of 18 March 1937 set the new reverse as the representation of a sailing ship with the words HALF PENNY and the date, with a plain edge.

This first George VI type ran every year from 1937 to 1948, and Coin Hunter's year pages give 528,919,200 coins in total. War drove the numbers up: from 24,504,000 in 1937 the output climbed to 71,908,800 in 1942, 76,200,000 in 1943 and 81,840,000 in 1944, before falling back. The lowest date is 1947 at 21,266,400, with 1946 close behind at 22,725,600.

The reverse is Humphrey Paget's Golden Hind, the ship of Sir Francis Drake, sailing left with HALF PENNY above and the date below. The Royal Mint Museum says Paget produced the design in 1936, originally intended for the half crown, before it was approved for the halfpenny; Wikipedia notes it first appeared on Edward VIII's pattern halfpenny. It stayed on the coin until decimalisation.

Paget also made the obverse, the uncrowned bust of George VI facing left. The Royal Mint Museum notes he produced it in little more than a month after the abdication. The legend reads GEORGIVS VI D:G:BR:OMN:REX F:D:IND:IMP., the final words naming the King as Emperor of India.

Varieties and errors

Tony Clayton notes minor design changes from one year to the next, and at least two varieties dated 1940. Matte proofs of 1937 also exist and are rare.

Collecting notes

All dates are common in circulated grades. The coronation proof sets of 1937 included a halfpenny, and Clayton lists rare proofs for most later dates.

The Royal Mint Museum explains that the halfpenny was withdrawn ahead of Decimal Day because it clashed in size with the 2p, and it ceased to be legal tender from 31 July 1969. The 1949 to 1952 halfpenny without IND IMP follows this type.