When was the half pence taken out of circulation?

The half pence or halfpenny was taken out of circulation in 1984. The Royal Mint stopped making the coin at the end of February 1983, but it remained legal tender until the end of the year.

At the time, the half pence had been in circulation for 13 years. It was estimated that about 2.5 billion coins were in circulation when it was announced that the coin was being retired. Few people actually used the coins, but they were kept in circulation because many feared removing the coin would cause stores to round up all items priced with a half pence, causing massive inflation.