HALF CROWNS

Dunstan Times, Issue 3378, 13 June 1927, Page 5

HALF CROWNS

])ISAprKAlt INO CO ins. Very shortly tin; half-crown piece '' ill hj« n rarity in ra lin and of mure value possibly as a nuiseinn piece than us coin of tlio realm. It is still worth thirty pence and legally still current coin, but its days were numbered w hen Australia determined to letire British silver and replace it with “ diuknm Aussie” metal. Over oik; million half-crowns were retired by the Australian Treasury dining IDdo-hG, and as none is being reissued the half-dollar piece is practi;ully extinct.

It is nut generally known that lor some time British silver coins were at a premium. Twopence on the pound has been paid by the Commonwealth Treasury wor half-crowns, llonns, and lings, and double this amount lor sixpences and threepenny pjcres. Ail save the halt-crowns are being replaced hy Auslraiian-nxinted coins, No less than d.tsUO.UUO two shilling pieces have hot;n. replaced in twelve months. British coins, including some hall-crowns, are still being introduced into Australia by immigrants and visitors, but these are impounded by the hanks as soon as received, as they are not of the same silver standard as the Australian coinage. The premium has been withdrawn, ko there need not he a rush to accumulate British silver pieces on this account.

The pity ol it is that in tho reconstruction of the coinage some form nearer to the decimal system was nut brought into vogue, but this introduces another subject and story, as the tietionists would say Anyway, we have got rid of at least one anomaly in <mi complicated monetary' system, even it does eliminate a portion ol tho decijiial system hj the ‘‘halt a dollar.”