Sixpence (New Zealand coin)

Sixpence
New Zealand
Value6d (£NZ)
Mass2.38 g
Diameter19.43 mm
EdgeMilled
Composition1933–1946: 50% silver, 50% quaternary alloy
1947–1965: cupronickel (75% copper, 25% nickel)
Years of minting1933–1965
Obverse
A coin featuring a crowned bust of King George V
DesignCrowned bust of George V
DesignerPercy Metcalfe
Reverse
A silver coin with a huia bird perched atop a small branch. To the upper left is the label "NEW ZEALAND", to the bottom right is the label "SIXPENCE 1934"
DesignHuia perched atop a branch.
DesignerGeorge Kruger Gray

The New Zealand sixpence is a coin of the New Zealand pound issued from 1933 to 1965. Equal to twice a threepence or half a shilling, the sixpence was one of five denominations of silver coins introduced in the initial issue of New Zealand coinage in 1933. Early designs for the coin featuring spears and silver ferns were rejected by design committees in Britain and New Zealand. The coin's final reverse, designed by George Kruger Gray, features a female huia, an extinct New Zealand bird, perched atop a branch. Issued in 50% silver until a postwar rise in silver prices triggered a shift to cupronickel in 1947, the coin was minted with relative consistency until 1965, when it was discontinued following decimalisation and the adoption of the New Zealand dollar.