At last night's detecting club monthly meeting a couple of coins were on display that I'd never seen before. Both were hammered halfpennies, the first a Richard 2nd and the other a Robert 2nd of Scotland. The fact that so few halfpennies seem to be found got me thinking about their rarity. In the past I always thought that their small size may have made them less likely to be found by detectorists but now I'm questioning that theory. What are your views on this? Apologies for the poor photos.
So ha'pennies have some factors that make them less common. 1. Not as many were minted, as well as farthings. This because they were a bit of an inconvenience to mint vs. pennies. 2. Their diminutive size frankly means that less are found in digs, detectorist finds etc. 3. Cutting of pennies as fractions continued into the 14th century.
Thanks for your feedback Scottishmoney. When you say that not as many were minted, are there contemporary records to support this view? I agree that their small size makes them more difficult to find with metal detectors, especially at greater depths. Although, as the abilities of the detectors continue to improve, I would expect more to be found. I agree with you regarding the cutting of pennies as I have found several with my earliest being 2 cut quarters of Ethelred 2nd from around the turn of the 11th century.
