Halfpenny 1955, Coin from Australia

Halfpenny 1955, Coin from Australia (withdrawn 1966)

Coin	Halfpenny 1955

The Australian halfpenny (or half penny) coin was the smallest circulating denomination of the Australian Pound. It 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 featured text only. In 1939, this new design by George Kruger Gray superseded it - featuring the iconic leaping kangaroo.

Coins issued in 1955 were withdrawn at decimalisation in 1966 after 11 years in circulation, but have never been formally demonetised and are still legal tender.

Mint	Perth Mint	Mint Mark	No mint mark	Total Mintage	9,343,021 (9.3 million)

Obverse

The obverse of the coin shows the laureate young laureate bust of Queen Elizabeth II facing right - her effigy known as the "First Portrait". The laurel wreath in the Queen's hair is tied with a ribbon with two ends flowing behind.

The designer's initials, M.G. (for Mary Gillick) appear incuse on the base of the shoulder truncation, and can be seen when the coin is viewed at an angle.

The monarch's legend runs continuously all around the bust: + ELIZABETH · II · DEI · GRATIA · REGINA. Translated from Latin: Elizabeth the Second, by the Grace of God, Queen, Defender of the Faith.

Obverse Inscription	+ ELIZABETH · II · DEI · GRATIA · REGINA

Reverse
At centre a kangaroo leaping right; around above, AUSTRALIA; around below, the value and denomination HALF PENNY. The date 1955 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.

Reverse Inscription	AUSTRALIA 1955 HALF PENNY

Edge	Plain	Edge Inscription	None

Notes

This was the first year since 1935 that proof coins were made available to collectors.

Krause catalogues list mintage of 9,343,000 plus 301 proofs.

Halfpenny 1955: Known varieties

Variety	Proof
Images
Mintage	Issued: 301 (included in total)
Details	This was the first year since 1935 that proof coins were made available to collectors.

Halfpenny 1955: References to Information Used

Source	Edition	About	Link	Notes
Museums Victoria Collections	2016	Coin description	link
Renniks, Australian Coin and Banknote Values	1965	Mint
Renniks, Australian Coin and Banknote Values	1965	Mintage		Circulation and proof mintage
Australian Coin Chart	1965	Mintage		Circulation mintage
Remick, Catalogue of British Commonwealth Coins	1971	Mintage		Circulation and proof mintage
Museums Victoria Collections	2016	Varieties	link	Proof
Renniks, Australian Coin and Banknote Values	1965	Varieties		Proof

All (51) coins of type: Halfpenny

Coin Name	Mintage	Effigy	Legend
Halfpenny 1911	2,832,060	King George V - Crowned Bust, by Mackennal	GEORGIVS V D. G. BRITT: OMN: REX F. D. IND: IMP: ·
Halfpenny 1912	2,400,000	King George V - Crowned Bust, by Mackennal	GEORGIVS V D. G. BRITT: OMN: REX F. D. IND: IMP: ·
Halfpenny 1913	2,160,000	King George V - Crowned Bust, by Mackennal	GEORGIVS V D. G. BRITT: OMN: REX F. D. IND: IMP: ·
Halfpenny 1914	2,640,000	King George V - Crowned Bust, by Mackennal	GEORGIVS V D. G. BRITT: OMN: REX F. D. IND: IMP: ·
Halfpenny 1915	720,000	King George V - Crowned Bust, by Mackennal	GEORGIVS V D. G. BRITT: OMN: REX F. D. IND: IMP: ·
Halfpenny 1916	3,600,025	King George V - Crowned Bust, by Mackennal	GEORGIVS V D. G. BRITT: OMN: REX F. D. IND: IMP: ·
Halfpenny 1917	5,760,000	King George V - Crowned Bust, by Mackennal	GEORGIVS V D. G. BRITT: OMN: REX F. D. IND: IMP: ·
Halfpenny 1918	1,440,000	King George V - Crowned Bust, by Mackennal	GEORGIVS V D. G. BRITT: OMN: REX F. D. IND: IMP: ·
Halfpenny 1919	3,326,400	King George V - Crowned Bust, by Mackennal	GEORGIVS V D. G. BRITT: OMN: REX F. D. IND: IMP: ·
Halfpenny 1920	4,113,600	King George V - Crowned Bust, by Mackennal	GEORGIVS V D. G. BRITT: OMN: REX F. D. IND: IMP: ·
Halfpenny 1921	5,280,000	King George V - Crowned Bust, by Mackennal	GEORGIVS V D. G. BRITT: OMN: REX F. D. IND: IMP: ·
Halfpenny 1922	6,924,000	King George V - Crowned Bust, by Mackennal	GEORGIVS V D. G. BRITT: OMN: REX F. D. IND: IMP: ·
Halfpenny 1923	1,113,600	King George V - Crowned Bust, by Mackennal	GEORGIVS V D. G. BRITT: OMN: REX F. D. IND: IMP: ·
Halfpenny 1924	681,600	King George V - Crowned Bust, by Mackennal	GEORGIVS V D. G. BRITT: OMN: REX F. D. IND: IMP: ·
Halfpenny 1925	1,147,200	King George V - Crowned Bust, by Mackennal	GEORGIVS V D. G. BRITT: OMN: REX F. D. IND: IMP: ·
Halfpenny 1926	4,132,800	King George V - Crowned Bust, by Mackennal	GEORGIVS V D. G. BRITT: OMN: REX F. D. IND: IMP: ·
Halfpenny 1927	3,072,050	King George V - Crowned Bust, by Mackennal	GEORGIVS V D. G. BRITT: OMN: REX F. D. IND: IMP: ·
Halfpenny 1928	2,318,400	King George V - Crowned Bust, by Mackennal	GEORGIVS V D. G. BRITT: OMN: REX F. D. IND: IMP: ·
Halfpenny 1929	2,635,200	King George V - Crowned Bust, by Mackennal	GEORGIVS V D. G. BRITT: OMN: REX F. D. IND: IMP: ·
Halfpenny 1930	638,406	King George V - Crowned Bust, by Mackennal	GEORGIVS V D. G. BRITT: OMN: REX F. D. IND: IMP: ·
Halfpenny 1931	369,600	King George V - Crowned Bust, by Mackennal	GEORGIVS V D. G. BRITT: OMN: REX F. D. IND: IMP: ·
Halfpenny 1932	2,553,600	King George V - Crowned Bust, by Mackennal	GEORGIVS V D. G. BRITT: OMN: REX F. D. IND: IMP: ·
Halfpenny 1933	4,608,000	King George V - Crowned Bust, by Mackennal	GEORGIVS V D. G. BRITT: OMN: REX F. D. IND: IMP: ·
Halfpenny 1934	3,816,100	King George V - Crowned Bust, by Mackennal	GEORGIVS V D. G. BRITT: OMN: REX F. D. IND: IMP: ·
Halfpenny 1935	2,916,100	King George V - Crowned Bust, by Mackennal	GEORGIVS V D. G. BRITT: OMN: REX F. D. IND: IMP: ·
Halfpenny 1936	2,562,200	King George V - Crowned Bust, by Mackennal	GEORGIVS V D. G. BRITT: OMN: REX F. D. IND: IMP: ·
Halfpenny 1938	3,014,250	King George VI - Bare Head	GEORGIVS VI D : G : BR : OMN : REX F : D : IND : IMP.
Halfpenny 1939 Commonwealth of Australia	4,382,400	King George VI - Bare Head	GEORGIVS VI D : G : BR : OMN : REX F : D : IND : IMP.
Halfpenny 1939 Kangaroo	504,100	King George VI - Bare Head	GEORGIVS VI D : G : BR : OMN : REX F : D : IND : IMP.
Halfpenny 1940	2,294,400	King George VI - Bare Head	GEORGIVS VI D : G : BR : OMN : REX F : D : IND : IMP.
Halfpenny 1941	5,011,200	King George VI - Bare Head	GEORGIVS VI D : G : BR : OMN : REX F : D : IND : IMP.
Halfpenny 1942	11,054,400	King George VI - Bare Head	GEORGIVS VI D : G : BR : OMN : REX F : D : IND : IMP.
Halfpenny 1943	39,988,806	King George VI - Bare Head	GEORGIVS VI D : G : BR : OMN : REX F : D : IND : IMP.
Halfpenny 1944	720,000	King George VI - Bare Head	GEORGIVS VI D : G : BR : OMN : REX F : D : IND : IMP.
Halfpenny 1945	3,033,600	King George VI - Bare Head	GEORGIVS VI D : G : BR : OMN : REX F : D : IND : IMP.
Halfpenny 1946	13,747,200	King George VI - Bare Head	GEORGIVS VI D : G : BR : OMN : REX F : D : IND : IMP.
Halfpenny 1947	9,292,800	King George VI - Bare Head	GEORGIVS VI D : G : BR : OMN : REX F : D : IND : IMP.
Halfpenny 1948	30,160,800	King George VI - Bare Head	GEORGIVS VI D : G : BR : OMN : REX F : D : IND : IMP.
Halfpenny 1949	22,310,400	King George VI - Bare Head	GEORGIVS VI D : G : BR : OMN : REX FIDEI DEF.
Halfpenny 1950	12,014,400	King George VI - Bare Head	GEORGIVS VI D : G : BR : OMN : REX FIDEI DEF.
Halfpenny 1951	41,422,080	King George VI - Bare Head	GEORGIVS VI D : G : BR : OMN : REX FIDEI DEF.
Halfpenny 1952	1,831,680	King George VI - Bare Head	GEORGIVS VI D : G : BR : OMN : REX FIDEI DEF.
Halfpenny 1953	23,967,376	Queen Elizabeth II - First Portrait	+ ELIZABETH · II · DEI · GRATIA · REGINA
Halfpenny 1954	21,962,880	Queen Elizabeth II - First Portrait	+ ELIZABETH · II · DEI · GRATIA · REGINA
Halfpenny 1955	9,343,021	Queen Elizabeth II - First Portrait	+ ELIZABETH · II · DEI · GRATIA · REGINA
Halfpenny 1959	10,167,906	Queen Elizabeth II - First Portrait	+ ELIZABETH · II · DEI · GRATIA · REGINA · F : D :
Halfpenny 1960	17,812,870	Queen Elizabeth II - First Portrait	+ ELIZABETH · II · DEI · GRATIA · REGINA · F : D :
Halfpenny 1961	20,184,080	Queen Elizabeth II - First Portrait	+ ELIZABETH · II · DEI · GRATIA · REGINA · F : D :
Halfpenny 1962	10,259,624	Queen Elizabeth II - First Portrait	+ ELIZABETH · II · DEI · GRATIA · REGINA · F : D :
Halfpenny 1963	16,411,300	Queen Elizabeth II - First Portrait	+ ELIZABETH · II · DEI · GRATIA · REGINA · F : D :
Halfpenny 1964	18,230,401	Queen Elizabeth II - First Portrait	+ ELIZABETH · II · DEI · GRATIA · REGINA · F : D :

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Halfpenny 1955: Details

Country	Australia
Currency	Australian Pound
Coin Type	Halfpenny - Kangaroo
Issued	1955
Monarch	Queen Elizabeth II
Effigy	Queen Elizabeth II - First Portrait, by Mary Gillick
Face Value	1/2 (x Penny)
Total Mintage	9,343,021 (9.3 million)
Current	No; withdrawn 1966
Material	Bronze
Designer	George Kruger Gray
Technology	Milled (machine-made)
Shape	Round
Orientation	Medal Alignment (Axis 0)
Size	25.4000 mm
Mass	5.6700 g
OCC ID	PNXY-DENZ-CWQM-EVRB

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Halfpenny 1955: Photos

Image	Details
	Proof Coin - Halfpenny, Australia, 1955 Copyright: Museums Victoria / CC BY Author: Naomi Andrzejeski Notes: Proof. Source
	Proof Coin - Halfpenny, Australia, 1955 Copyright: Museums Victoria / CC BY Author: Naomi Andrzejeski Notes: Proof. Source
	Australia 1955(p) half penny Copyright: CoinFactsWiki / CC BY-SA Author: Heritage Auction Galleries Notes: Proof. Source
	Australia 1955(p) half penny Copyright: CoinFactsWiki / CC BY-SA Author: Heritage Auction Galleries Notes: Proof. Source

Halfpenny 1955: Catalogue Reference IDs

Source	Reference ID
Krause, Standard Catalog of World Coins	Australia KM# 49
Schön, Weltmünzkatalog	Australien Schön# 36
Renniks, Australian Coin and Banknote Values	A54
Australian Coin Chart	H56

Relevant Links

Museums Victoria: Proof Coin - Halfpenny, Australia, 1955

Halfpenny 1955, Coin from Australia - detailed information