New Zealand | |
| Value |
|
|---|---|
| Mass | 5.67 g |
| Diameter | 25.5 mm |
| Edge | Plain |
| Obverse | |
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| Design | Profile portrait of George VI |
| Designer | Humphrey Paget |
| Reverse | |
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| Design | A hei-tiki with ornamental kowhaiwhai pattern on each side |
| Designer | Leonard Cornwall Mitchell |
The halfpenny was first issued in New Zealand in 1940, seven years after the first introduction of a domestic pound coinage. The coin's issuing was scheduled to align with the centennial of the Treaty of Waitangi and the New Zealand centennial, alongside the penny and centennial half-crown. The coin was designed by New Zealand artist Leonard Cornwall Mitchell after winning a government-sponsored design competition, and then modelled by Royal Mint designer Percy Metcalfe. The halfpenny features the head of the reigning monarch on the obverse, with a hei-tiki pendant ornamented and simplified kowhaiwhai woodcarvings on the reverse. The smallest of all denominations of the New Zealand pound, the copper coin was worth 1/480th of a pound, or 1/120th of a crown, the largest coinage denomination. It was discontinued alongside all other New Zealand currency following decimalisation in 1967.