? The half penny switched over to the Kruger Gray, or Kangaroo reverse in 1939 and continued with the design until 1952. The reverse design features a Kangaroo jumping to the right with AUSTRALIA around the top of the design, HALF PENNY around the bottom and the year right above that, just behind the Kangaroo's legs. The obverse features an uncrowned bust of King George VI facing to the left and the legend, GEORGIVS VI D : G : BR : OMN : REX F : D : IND : IMP and was used up until ...
? obverse legend QUEEN VICTORIA reverse legend HONG KONG TEN CENTS denomination The official currency of Hong Kong was the British Pound although it was not well received by the population as the traders were used to the Chinese system of using the weight of silver for their transactions. It was the policy of the British Government to introduce sterling silver coinage to their colonies since 1825 and the Spanish and Mexican eight Reales became legal tender and set at a value of four ...
? The 1946 Shilling was struck at the Melbourne Mint to a total mintage of 10,072,000. In the same year the Perth Mint also produced a further 1,316,000 pieces. The types can be differentiated by a small dot mint-mark located below the star and above the denomination on the reverse of the Perth Mint variety. The relatively high mintage of the Melbourne type makes it very affordable and accessible across most grades, only becoming expensive around MS65. Perth ...
? The Kangaroo design continued into this type right until the introduction of decimal currency with the conclusion of the penny series in 1964. This type features a slightly reworded obverse legend, ELIZABETH II DEI GRATIA REGINA F:D , which was modified after public outcry that the previous type omitted FIDEI DEF . All dates in the series are easy to acquire in mint state , though the 1959 plain from the Melbourne mint is quite scarce. Finding any date beyond MS64 is a challenge, ...
? Following the discovery of gold in Sydney, sovereigns were minted at the Sydney Mint from 1855 and continued until 1916. Prior to the discovery of gold, Australian colonies were reliant upon coins minted in Great Britain as these were the only coins recognised as having legal tender status . The 1850s Gold Rush affected not only the mintage of coins but also sudden population growth, particularly in Victoria. In turn, this demanded sudden developments in government administration ...