Halfpenny 1956, Coin from New Zealand - detailed information

Laureate bust of Queen Elizabeth II facing right (the effigy by Mary Gillick known as the "First portrait"); the designer's initials, M.G., appear incuse on the base of the neck truncation. The monarch's legend QUEEN · ELIZABETH · THE · SECOND + runs continuously all around the bust.

At centre, between two Māori scroll designs, a tiki (Māori carved figure); around, NEW ZEALAND HALF PENNY; below, the date 1956.

Renniks New Zealand Coinage Guide 1966:

"The obverse master die was re-designed with shoulder strap, but a few varieties of 1956 half-pennies are to be found without re-designed strap." This was also listed in Krause until 1971 but is no longer listed there or in John Bertrand's New Zealand Coin and Banknote Catalogue.

Strictly speaking, this is not a "shoulder strap" as widely believed but a fold in Her Majesty's gown.