1830 Great Britain Half Farthing : Opinions Sought

Nice one :-)

Mintage 8,776,320 and two varieties exist with one having a smaller date.

I suggest looking up an image of the large date variety and comparing carefully to know which you have... the small date is worth significantly more.

I just looked in Spinks catalogue... Its Spinks number is 3826 ad it is described as "Half-Farthing (For use in Ceylon) and it also quotes 2 varieties but doesn't mention date, it gives a variety it says "Rev. Helmet intrudes legend" which is the cheaper variety valued at F=£10 VF=£25 EF=£75 Unc=£150 (These are 2002 prices)other is approx. doubled prices.

Online also I found it says

- not legal tender in the UK until 1842
- date spans 11 rim denticals (large date)

So that confirms your is large date I think :)

As DavidUK has said, these were produced for use in Ceylon to facilitate local trade while keeping line with British currency.

Your example is listed in Peck as P1450 - Reverse A, trident prongs and tip of the helmet are above the base of the legend.

Also believe this is large date. The large date/small date isn't listed in Peck, although the work is now 50+ years old. Still the best reference for British copper coinage though!