Half penny, Saint Helena 1821

Metal: copper. Diameter: 29mm. Weight: 9.45g. Edge: smooth
Obverse: Arms of the British East India Company with two lions supporting a shield surmounted by a helm, on a banner is inscribed: AUSP: REGIS & SENAT ANGLIAE
Reverse: ST HELENA/ HALF PENNY/ 1821, in a crown formed of an olive branch and a laurel branch.
This coin is considered to have its place in a collection of so-called "Napoleonic" coins, since it was created while Napoleon was detained on the island of Saint Helena, and it is because of its presence that this coin was issued.

In 1821 instructions were sent to England for the manufacture of 70,560 half-penny tokens and then a second issue was raised from the East India Company, for a total of 702,704 half-penny coins. This involves providing for the expenses of the personnel deployed to Saint Helena to guard the Emperor.
Napoleon died on May 5, 1821, before all these coins arrived. With the island returning to its population and resource levels before the emperor's stay, these coinss are no longer essential. In 1830, some of them were sent back to England to be melted down.
This coin is therefore uncommon, the permanent population of the island of Saint Helena being only a few hundred individuals.