Halfpenny (British decimal coin) portrait the Queen wears the 'Girls of Great Britain and Ireland' Tiara. Annual number of coins released into general circulation (excludes proof sets) A decimal quarter-penny coin (to be struck in aluminium) was also proposed (which would have allowed the pre-decimal threepence to continue to circulate with a value of new pence), but was never produced. 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 Day Ireland operated within the Sterling Area, effectively a single monetary area. The Irish pound had come into existence as a separate currency in 1927 with distinct coins and notes, but the terms of the Irish Currency Act obliged the Irish currency commissioners to redeem Irish pounds on a fixed 1:1 basis, and so day-to-day banking operations continued exactly as they had been before the creation of the Irish pound (). This state of affairs continued until 1979 when Irish obligations to the European Monetary System forced them to break the historic link with Sterling. In Ireland, all pre-decimal coins, except