when was half penny taken out of circulation
December 1984
title: Half dollar (United States coin) text: has undergone a number of changes throughout its history. Though not commonly used today, half dollar coins have a long history of heavy use alongside other denominations of coinage, but have faded out of general circulation for many reasons. They were produced in fairly large quantities until the year 2002, when the U.S. Mint ceased production of the coin for general circulation. As a result of its decreasing usage, a large amount of pre-2002 half dollars remain in Federal Reserve vaults, prompting the change in production. Presently, collector half dollars can be ordered directly from the U.S. Mint, and pre-2002 title: Withdrawal of low-denomination coins text: inflation. In Switzerland, the 1 Rappen coin had fallen into disuse by the early 1980s, but was still produced until 2006, albeit in ever decreasing quantities. Conversely, the British Treasury department initially argued for the retention of the "decimal" halfpenny, on the grounds that its withdrawal would drive up inflation. In some countries, such as New Zealand, withdrawn coins are declared to be no longer legal tender; in other countries, such as Australia, they remain legal tender indefinitely. When the coin in question is no longer minted, prices are rounded, typically through Swedish rounding. Efforts have been made to end title: History of the British penny (1901–1970) text: was permanent due to inflation; its purchasing power was minimal, and many automatic machines no longer took it. The Royal Mint redeemed surplus coppers from the banks for melting beginning in 1951, and by the end of the decade, some £1.2 million worth had been removed from circulation. The 1950 and 1951 circulation pennies were only produced for the colonies as none were needed in Britain. During 1956, the entire 1950 mintage (still held in stock in Britain) and three-quarters of the 1951 production were sent to Bermuda. Both mintages were low compared with earlier George VI pennies, and London title: Half dollar (United States coin) text: the time that the coin's composition was changed to match that of the clad dimes and quarters in 1971, businesses and the public began losing interest in the half dollar and the coin began to gradually disappear from circulation during the 1970s. Merchants stopped ordering half dollars from their banks, and many banks stopped ordering half dollars from the Federal Reserve, and the U.S. mints sharply reduced production of the coins. Since 2002, half dollars have been minted only for collectors, due to large Federal Reserve and government inventories on hand of pre-2001 pieces; this is mostly due to lack title: Decimal Day text: and 10p coin equivalents, co-existed in circulation as valid currency until the early 1990s. In theory this included coins dating back to 1816; in practice the oldest were dated 1947, when these coins stopped containing silver. The coins were withdrawn when smaller 5p and 10p coins were introduced in 1990 and 1992 respectively. The face value of Maundy money coins was maintained, increasing all their face values by a factor of 2.4, as the coins continued to be legal tender as new pence. The numismatic value of each coin, though, greatly exceeds face value. The decimal halfpenny (p), introduced in