Halfpenny (British decimal coin) Halfpenny (British decimal coin) The British decimal halfpenny (p) coin was introduced in February 1971, at the time of decimalisation, and was worth one two-hundredth of a pound sterling. It was ignored in banking transactions, which were carried out in units of 1p. The decimal halfpenny had the same value as 1.2 pre-decimal pence, and was introduced to enable the prices of some low-value items to be more accurately translated to the new decimal currency. The possibility of setting prices including an odd half penny also made it more practical to retain the pre-decimal sixpence in circulation (with a value
Decimal Day the 1s, 2s and 10s coins, were called in during the initial process between 1969 and 1972; the ten shilling coin, which, as recently issued and in any event equivalent to 50p, was permitted to remain outstanding (though due to silver content, the coin did not circulate). The 1s and 2s were recalled in 1993 and 1994 respectively. Pre-decimal Irish coins may still be redeemed at their face value equivalent in euro at the Central Bank in Dublin. Pre-decimal Irish coins and stamps' values were denoted with Irish language abbreviations ("scilling" ("shilling", abbreviated ""s"") and "pingin" ("penny", abbreviated ""p"")) rather