Coin
½ Penny (1971) — Ireland
Ireland • 1971 • KM# 19, Sp# 6710
Overview
Irish ½ Penny coin from 1971.
Specifications
- Country
- Ireland
- Year
- 1971
- Composition
- Bronze
- Weight
- 1.78 g
- Diameter
- 17.14 mm
- Thickness
- 1.15 mm
- Mint
- Royal Mint, Llantrisant, United Kingdom
- Shape
- Round
- Technique
- Milled
- References
- KM# 19, Sp# 6710
- Issuer
- Ireland
Design details
Obverse
Irish harp with the country name to the left and the year to the right.
Reverse
Decorative initial 'O' resembling a bird, out of the 'Book of Kells' and the denomination below.
Collector insights
- Decimal transition: This coin sits inside Ireland's Decimal Day changeover (15 February 1971). Higher-denomination decimal pieces were released in October 1969 to let the public adjust before the pre-decimal system was withdrawn.
- Design heritage: Gabriel Hayes is credited as the designer. Designer attribution helps distinguish this issue from later restrikes or unofficial copies that reuse only the motif.
- Struck at: Royal Mint, Llantrisant, United Kingdom. Confirm the mintmark on your example before comparing prices — same-year issues from different mints often trade at very different levels.
- Mintage vs. survival: Reported mintage of 100,500,000 is high, but circulation attrition, currency-reform meltdowns, and low collector-preservation rates mean uncirculated (MS-63+) examples are meaningfully scarcer than the raw figure suggests. Check third-party population reports (PCGS/NGC) for realistic survival in top grades.
- Catalogue reference: Listed as
KM# 19, Sp# 6710. Use this reference code when cross-checking auction archives, dealer inventories, and standard printed catalogues.
Related pieces
Explore more
Browse more items in the full catalog or view Ireland in the country guide.