1/2 Cent - Willem III

Willem III's half-cent was issued under the Coinage Act of 1847, which rationalized the Dutch monetary system in preparation for what would become a decades-long copper series. Production ran across the Utrecht mint with occasional interruptions tied to shifting demand for the smallest denomination in circulation — by the 1870s, the coin's purchasing utility had eroded to the point where the half-cent was effectively worthless in daily commerce. The denomination was abolished in 1877, the same year this type ceased production.