History of the halfpenny . The halfpennies of the first reign of King Edward IV (1461–1470) are divided into the heavy coinage up to 1464, which was only minted in London, and the light coinage from 1464, produced at London, Bristol (now ), Canterbury (), York, and Norwich (). The obverse inscription reads . During the short second reign of Henry VI (1470–1471), halfpennies were produced at London and Bristol. The obverse inscription was changed to read . Halfpennies of the second reign of Edward IV (1471–1483) are much like those of the first reign (only a few months earlier) but they were also
Wars of the Roses again won complete victories at Barnet (14 April 1471), where Warwick was killed, and Tewkesbury (4 May 1471) where the Lancastrian heir, Edward of Westminster, Prince of Wales was killed, or perhaps executed after the battle. Queen Margaret was escorted to London as a prisoner and Henry was murdered in the Tower of London several days later, ending the direct Lancastrian line of succession. A period of comparative peace followed, ending with the unexpected death of King Edward in 1483. His surviving brother, Richard, Duke of Gloucester, first moved to prevent the unpopular Woodville family of Edward's widow from participating