1951 Australian Halfpenny

Description

The Australian halfpenny (or half penny) coin was the smallest circulating denomination of the Australian Pound; unlike the British pre-decimal Pound Sterling, the Australian Pound had no smaller denominations like the British farthings and fractional farthings.

The Australian halfpenny has the same dimensions and composition as the British pre-decimal halfpenny, from which it is derived (for a time, the coins circulated in parallel and were interchangeable in Australia – but not in the United Kingdom; the currencies were fixed at par). 1/2 penny was worth 1/24 of a shilling, or 1/480 of a pound.

The reverse of the first type of Australian halfpenny coins features text only. In 1939, a new design superseded it – featuring the iconic leaping kangaroo; the old type of coins remained in circulation.

The coins were struck by a number of different mints, with various mint marks:
– Royal Mint, 1911 – 1914, no mint mark; 1951, letters PL
– Birmingham Mint (ex Heaton and Sons), 1912 – 1915, letter H; 1951, letters PL (as subcontractor for the Royal Mint)
– Calcutta Mint, 1916 – 1918, letter I
– Sydney Mint, 1916 – 1926, no mint mark
– Melbourne Mint, 1923 – 1959, no mint mark
– Bombay Mint, 1942 – 1943, dots before and after the denomination: .HALF PENNY., plus letter I on the obverse
– Perth Mint, 1942 – 1964, dot after the denomination: HALF PENNY. or a high dot after AUSTRALIA, or no mint mark

The coin was first minted in 1911 and minting ceased in 1964, excluding 1937, 1956 – 1958 inclusive. Counting the known mintages of proofs, a total of 422,882,890 (422 million) coins of the denomination were minted during its existence.

They circulated until decimalisation and were withdrawn in 1966, when Australia switched to its current Australian Dollar currency. Unlike some of the larger denominations, they were not re-denominated into units of the new currency. However, the halfpenny coins were never formally demonetised and are still legal tender for 5⁄12¢.

Effigy of the ruling British monarch, legend (in Latin). Being a Dominion of the British Empire, Australia used the Imperial legend of the monarch and not a “home” version of it.

Throughout the existence of the coin type, the monarchs were:
– King George V, 1911 – 1936, shown in his Crowned bust by Sir Edgar Bertram Mackennal
– King George VI, 1938 – 1952, shown in his Bare Head portrait by Thomas Humphrey Paget
– Queen Elizabeth II, 1953 – 1964, shown in her First Effigy by Mary Gillick

There were no coins released for King Edward VIII.

At centre within a circle of beads, the value and denomination ONE HALF PENNY in three lines above a plain scroll; around above, outside the circle of beads, COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA; below, the date · [year] ·.

Second reverse (1939 – 1964):
At centre a kangaroo leaping right; around above, AUSTRALIA; around below, the value and denomination HALF PENNY. The date [year] is below the kangaroo and the seven pointed Federation star follows the word PENNY. The artist’s initials, KG (for [George] Kruger Gray) are below the kangaroo’s tail near the rim.

Additional information