RARE COINS

Hokitika Guardian, 1 December 1933, Page 8

RARE COINS

THE DOMINION PENNY

THREE OF 1879 LEFT

WELLINGTON, November 28,

The adveiit of New Zealand’s first; distinctive coinage encourages excuf"; sions into this country’s past numiiH matic History. Last week there arrived in Wellington from London, a of New Zealand’s rarest coin—tljo-New* Zealand penny, dated 1879. The coin’ is of, coppfcin Li/'; ; The rarity of this coin is accounted for by the fact that only 12 specimens; were struck, and there is record of only three specimens in existence, one in' the Mitchell Library, Sydney, one Plan Auckland collection, and the onenow in Wellington. No New Zealand museum possesses . a specimen of this token. The well-known “Maori penny,” bearing a finely-tattooed head of a Maori chief, is sometimes confused-with the New Zealand penny, but- the designs are entirely different,

It is understood that about the year 1880, when penny and halfpenny traders’ copper tokens were being; called in with the object of substituting pennies and halfpennies of Imperial design only, some suggestion was made in New Zealand that the colony should substitute its own coins, and 12 pattern pennies—now known as the New Zealand penny—-were struck with the object of having this typie. of penny officially adopted in New Zealand. Apparently this proposal received little support, and the 12 pennies were allowed to go into circulation without any. further action being taken. In the 0-1 years that have intervened only three specimens seem to have survived. In 1905 this coin was listed by Mr W. Carew Hazlitt, ' a numismatic writer, at £3 los. At the present time the coin is considered to be worth £5. It is understood that the rare coin' was designed by Mr Joseph Moore, of Messrs. Allen and Moore, English medallists, who* submitted Jve.ral designed for the great Imperial bronze coinage of 1860, and one of the designs submitted to the Imperial authorities was used for the coin known as the New Zealand penny. According to Dr Arthur Andrews, ex-president -of the Australian Numismatic Society, the obverse design was used for ether'colonial issues, including the obverse of penny tokens issued about the same time ‘by the , Licensed Victuallers’ Association, Auckland. The latter tokens, however, are plentiful. Tue dies of the New Zea-, land' pennies were destroyed in 1886, presumably by the strikers of the, coin, Messrs Roth and Hull. .. . . • This rare coin was first described in “The Coins and Tokens of the Possessions and Colonies of the British Etapi re,” by James Atkins, London, 1889. The description by Andrews, the Australian numismatist, is as follows “329. Slew Zealand: Penny, 1879, 30mm. Normal (J. Moore fecit). Rare. Obverse : A laureated head, of Queen Victoria with rose, thistle flower and shamrock leaf below, Victoria, Queen of Great Briain, round , above with beaded rim.

“Reverse: Britannia seated lielmeted with trident in right hand,-a shield and palm branch held by left, New Zealand above 1879 in exergue. Beaded rim. Only 12 struck (Roth and Hill),”

The values of rare New Zealanu stamps have soared much higher than rare New Zealand coins or tokens. This is attributable to the fact that the number of philatelists far exceeds the number of numismatists, and consequently the demand for stamps is greater. It is somewhat paradoxical that rare New Zealand stamps which possess no intrinsic value and are . easily destructable, range in value up to £SOO, whereas the rarest New: Zealand coin, which does possess an intrinsic value, is worth only £5 at present, but in view of the extremely limited issue, and the increasing interest in numismatics, some numismatists expect that within the next four decades the value of the New Zealand penny will rise steeply.