Irish halfpenny (decimal coin)
Encyclopedia
The decimal halfpenny (½p) coin was the smallest denomination of the Irish pound
. It was first issued when the Irish currency was decimalised on Decimal Day
, 15 February 1971. It was one of three new designs introduced all in bronze
and featuring ornamental birds on the reverse. The coin value was weakened by inflation and very few were produced beyond the initial run for 1971. It was removed from circulation and demonetised on 1 January 1987.
The main reason that halfpennies were issued was that when shillings were decimalised they were worth five new pence, so a sixpence (half of a shilling) yielded a value of 2.5 new pence.
Its dimensions and appearance were the same as the British coin of the same denomination as the pounds of Britain and Ireland were pegged until 1979.
The coin was designed by the Irish artist Gabriel Hayes
and the design is adapted from manuscript MS.213 in Cathedral Library in Cologne
, Germany
. The coin has a diameter of 1.7145 centimetres and mass of 1.782 gram
s consisting of copper
, tin
and zinc
.
The coin was 1/200 of an Irish Pound.
The 1985 version of this coin is particularly rare, and valuable to coin collectors - the vast majority of the 2.8 million were melted in 1987. The 1986 coin was only produced for the 1986 specimen sets and is also rare.
Irish pound
The Irish pound was the currency of Ireland until 2002. Its ISO 4217 code was IEP, and the usual notation was the prefix £...
. It was first issued when the Irish currency was decimalised on Decimal Day
Decimal Day
Decimal Day was the day the United Kingdom and Ireland decimalised their currencies.-Old system:Under the old currency of pounds, shillings and pence, the pound was made up of 240 pence , with 12 pence in a shilling and 20 shillings in a...
, 15 February 1971. It was one of three new designs introduced all in bronze
Bronze
Bronze is a metal alloy consisting primarily of copper, usually with tin as the main additive. It is hard and brittle, and it was particularly significant in antiquity, so much so that the Bronze Age was named after the metal...
and featuring ornamental birds on the reverse. The coin value was weakened by inflation and very few were produced beyond the initial run for 1971. It was removed from circulation and demonetised on 1 January 1987.
The main reason that halfpennies were issued was that when shillings were decimalised they were worth five new pence, so a sixpence (half of a shilling) yielded a value of 2.5 new pence.
Its dimensions and appearance were the same as the British coin of the same denomination as the pounds of Britain and Ireland were pegged until 1979.
The coin was designed by the Irish artist Gabriel Hayes
Gabriel Hayes
Gabriel Hayes was an Irish artist born in Monasterevin, County Kildare. She was a sculptor who studied in Dublin, France, and Italy. Hayes was also an accomplished artist with one of her works "The Cork Bowler" selling at Christies in London in May 2000 for 23,500 stg....
and the design is adapted from manuscript MS.213 in Cathedral Library in Cologne
Cologne
Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. The coin has a diameter of 1.7145 centimetres and mass of 1.782 gram
Gram
The gram is a metric system unit of mass....
s consisting of copper
Copper
Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu and atomic number 29. It is a ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. Pure copper is soft and malleable; an exposed surface has a reddish-orange tarnish...
, tin
Tin
Tin is a chemical element with the symbol Sn and atomic number 50. It is a main group metal in group 14 of the periodic table. Tin shows chemical similarity to both neighboring group 14 elements, germanium and lead and has two possible oxidation states, +2 and the slightly more stable +4...
and zinc
Zinc
Zinc , or spelter , is a metallic chemical element; it has the symbol Zn and atomic number 30. It is the first element in group 12 of the periodic table. Zinc is, in some respects, chemically similar to magnesium, because its ion is of similar size and its only common oxidation state is +2...
.
The coin was 1/200 of an Irish Pound.
The 1985 version of this coin is particularly rare, and valuable to coin collectors - the vast majority of the 2.8 million were melted in 1987. The 1986 coin was only produced for the 1986 specimen sets and is also rare.