MLS 1959 Halfpenny Collectable British Coin - Uncirculated / Predecimal / UK Souvenir from London England Great Britain

Product Information

The pattern coin of Edward VIII and regular issue halfpennies of George VI and Elizabeth II feature a redesigned reverse displaying Sir Francis Drake's ship the Golden Hind. Values in the table above are expressed in GBP. They are based on evaluations by Numista users and sales realized on Internet platforms. They serve as an indication only; they are not intended to be relied upon for buying, selling or exchanging. Numista does not buy or sell coins or banknotes. The Treasury provided the finder with a letter stating that, in its opinion, the coin was the real deal. But it turned out that it had been examined by a currency expert, rather than a coin expert.

The decimal Halfpenny measured just 17.14mm, weighed only 1.78g and was only ever minted in bronze. It was the smallest ever UK coin. As a result, it was never very popular and was withdrawn in 1984.

Reverse

It was created by an artist named Victor David Brenner. Brenner said he had imagined Lincoln as he would have looked reading a story to a child. That year marked the bicentenary of Lincoln’s birth, and again, a new design was commissioned for the occasion. This showed the “Union shield”, and it’s the design you’ll still see on modern Lincoln pennies. Coins issued during the reign of Edward VII feature his likeness and bear the inscription EDWARDVS VII DEI GRA BRITT OMN REX FID DEF IND IMP. Similarly, those issued during the reign of George V feature his likeness and bear the inscription GEORGIVS V DEI GRA BRITT OMN REX FID DEF IND IMP. And when the coin was submitted to independent grading agencies, they refused to rule it was authentic. In 2002, with the coin about to be offered for sale at auction, a convicted forger called Mark Hofmann wrote a letter to his daughter claiming he’d faked it.

It was withdrawn from sale but offered at auction again eight years later. By then, no evidence had been found to support Hofmann’s claim. Even so, the coin was sold with a disclaimer noting there was no guarantee it was genuine.

Type Details

Even that, though led to controversy. Some felt that the initials were too prominent and amounted to advertising the artist’s work. Despite Brenner’s protests, his initials were removed. The new reverse design was the work of Frank Gasparro, who was then the Mint’s Assistant Engraver. And it had considerable longevity: the Lincoln Memorial reverse was included on every cent issued until 2009. Brenner signed his portrait, originally intending to add his signature to the obverse. He was told this would not be acceptable, so instead placed his initials on the reverse.

Before Decimal Day in 1971, sterling used the Carolingian monetary system, under which the largest unit was a pound divided into 20 shillings, each of 12 pence. Each penny was further divided into 4 farthings, thus a pound contained 480 halfpennies and a shilling contained 24 halfpennies. And it’s just possible there’s another mule out there – a 1959 penny with a reverse showing two ears of wheat. Find one of those, and your coin will be worth serious money. What is the most valuable 1959 D penny worth? At the end of the 18th century a shortage of small value coins, such as silver Pennies and Halfpennies, made trade difficult. This shortage was so great that some merchants and mining companies began to produce their own copper Penny and Half-pence ‘token’ coins.

Value Range

In 1939, the first halfpenny coins continued to be produced with the long-standing "•COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA•" which had held since their first introduction 1911. However, later that year the reverse changed to a scaled-down and horizontally inverted version of the penny Kangaroo reverse, which was introduced the previous year in 1938. Furthermore, there were two observably distinct reverse Kangaroo dies on the (then) new 1939 halfpennies—one from the original London die master and the second from the Melbourne Mint. [1] [5]