1940 NZ Centennial Silver Halfcrown is another key piece in the New Zealand single country collection. Not the most valuable but one of the most beautiful. Only 100,800 were issued and it is the only commemorative Half-crown issued by the Reserve Bank of NZ. Its numbers make it uncommon but not rare however its place as a key piece hinges on its design. The 1940 NZ Centennial Silver Halfcrown is an astounding piece of design. The style of which fuses modern (nearly facist) ultiltarian virtues with the strength of more traditional British weights, finish and dimensions. I personally feel it owes a lot to the design for the 1935 Waitangi Crown.
It was struck for the Centennial of New Zealand 1840-1940. On the obverse is King George VI and on the reverse is a Maori Princess with buildings behind her. This coin is just very hard to find, especially when in NZ as many left as sovouniers. It is also most unusual in that it was struck during World War II. Distinctive New Zealand coins, issued since 1933 when the Coinage Act was passed, are the crown, half-crown, florin, shilling, sixpence, threepence, penny, and halfpenny. No farthings have been issued.
The decision in 1933 to issue a New Zealand coinage to replace British Imperial coinage which, since 1840, had been the legal metallic currency, largely arose from coin smuggling in the early thirties when the Australian and the New Zealand exchange rates were devalued in terms of sterling. In May 1933 a Coinage Committee was appointed and asked to report inter alia on the designs to be adopted. It recommended that a special Coinage Designs Committee be set up. As a result of the work of this committee and its advisers, the design of the New Zealand coins broke new ground by making use of distinctive New Zealand symbols as the reverse types. The half-crown, for example, shows the New Zealand shield of arms surrounded by ornamentation based on Maori carvings, and the sixpence depicts the female huia, now extinct, which was one of New Zealand’s most beautiful birds.
British silver coin ceased to be legal tender in New Zealand on 1 February 1935, and under the Coinage Act 1933 . The exportation of all coin was prohibited under the Finance Emergency Regulations 1940. Travellers from New Zealand were, however, permitted ” to take silver coin not exceeding £2 or, if their journey is direct to the United Kingdom, not exceeding £5.”
Maybe this explains the shortage of 1940 halfcrowns, many found their way into the pockets of tourists from England and the USA. Today it remains a beautiful way to hedge against inflation.
