1/2 Penny - Elizabeth I Third coinage

Elizabeth's copper coinage for Ireland was authorized partly to address the chronic shortage of small change that had plagued the island for decades, but the timing — 1601 to 1602 — placed its production squarely within the final, desperate phase of the Nine Years' War. The surrender of Hugh O'Neill at Mellifont came in March 1603, just months after these pieces were being struck. Coins of this issue circulated in an Ireland effectively under military occupation, moving through garrison towns and provisioning markets rather than any stable commercial economy.

The three KM subtype distinctions reflect die variations documented across the short run.