FIVE SHILLING PIECE

Taranaki Daily News, 10 February 1934, Page 9

FIVE SHILLING PIECE

NEW DOMINION COIN. TREATY SIGNING DEPICTED. Waitangi, Feb. 6. The five-shilling piece of the new Dominion coinage is to bear a representation of the signing of, the Treaty of Waitangi, according to an announcement made by the Minister of Finance, the Rt. Hon. J. G. Coates, at the Maori meeting in the camp to-day. The Minister said the decision had been made only that morning and concerned the crown piece, commonly known as a “cart-wheel.” The representation of the treaty scene would include the figures of the first Governor of New Zealand, Captain William Hobson, R.N., the Rev. Henry Williams, and one or two other missionaries, Tamati Waaka Nene and other chiefs. It would convey the message that the treaty meant everything to the people of New Zealand. The new five-shilling piece will be part of- the first series of New Zealand coins to be issued, the half-crown and sixpence of which have recently been put into circulation. The coins were designed by Mr. George Kruger Gray, who was also responsible for the new series of English coins minted in 1927. The crown as a coin dates back to the reign of Henry VIII, when it was made of gold. Edward VI introduced a silver crown and down to the reign of Charles 11, crowns and half-crowns, and even double crowns were of gold or silver. Since Charles 11, crowns of silver were struck continuously until the reign of William IV. when the coin was minted only as a pattern to preserve the continuity.

St. George first appeared on the crown in 1818, but the second issue of George IV had on it a coat of arms. Between 1861 and 1887 no crowns were minted, but in the jubilee year of Queen Victoria there again appeared the fiveshilling piece with St. George. Since then the crown has been in only limited circulation and no crowns were struck between 1902 and 1927.