1/2 Penny - James I 1st coinage

James I inherited a coinage system in serious disrepair. Elizabeth I's later issues had suffered chronic short-weighting and clipping, and the smallest silver denominations were so debased in public confidence that many simply refused to handle them. The halfpenny of the first coinage was struck to the same theoretical standard as its Elizabethan predecessors, though at 0.23g it was barely a practical object — more a numismatic formality than a functional coin.

The first coinage ran only until 1604–05, replaced when James restructured his currency program. Survivors at any grade are scarce; at this size, losses to corrosion and simple disappearance were inevitable.