User:Generalissima/Crown (New Zealand coin)

The crown was a denomination of the New Zealand pound intermitted issued as commemorative coins in 1935, 1949, and 1953. The first of these coins, the Waitangi crown, was issued in extremely small numbers and sold to collectors. The crown issues of 1949 and 1953 were released directly into circulation and could be initially obtained at face value. They were the physically largest coin of New Zealand, at 1.525 inches (3.87 cm) in diameter. The first two coins in the series were struck in .500 fineness silver, while the last was struck in cupronickel.

Background

Further information: Coins of the New Zealand pound

An 1831 British crown, featuring William IV

British pound sterling coinage, including crowns, began circulating in New Zealand during the early 1800s. Crown pieces rarely circulated, both within the United Kingdom and in New Zealand itself.

1935 (Waitangi crown)

Main article: Waitangi crown

Reverse of the 1935 crown, designed by Percy Metcalfe and James Berry.

Proposals for a commemorative crown issue began in late 1933, during the final stages of design and production for the initial series of pound coinage. Sutherland, writing for the

Proposals for regular issue

In 1936, numismatist Allan Sutherland proposed that a crown be issued as the base unit of a "cent-crown decimal system". The 1937 annual report of the New Zealand Numismatic Society suggested that "opportunity should be taken to call for designs for [...] the Crown piece which has not yet been given a standard design." In October of that year, the issue was raised by Sutherland to the government-sponsored Coinage Sub-Committee of the National Historical Committee, but rejected by Treasury Secretary George Charles Rodda, who stated that there was no plans to begin a regular issue. The failure of the Waitangi crown may have contributed to the decision not to pursue a general issue crown piece.

1949 (Royal visit crown)

Main article: 1949 New Zealand crown

Reverse of the 1949 crown, designed by James Berry.

1953 (Coronation crown)

Reverse of the 1953 crown, designed by Robert M. Conly.

References

Bibliography

• Bicknell, Paul Lawrence (December 2021). "The 1940 New Zealand Centennial Half-Crown". New Zealand Numismatic Journal. 101: 15–28.
• Čuhaj, George S. (2015). Standard Catalog of World Coins: 1900-2000 (41st ed.). Iola, Wisconsin: Krause Publications. p. 1633. ISBN 9781440240393.
• Stocker, Mark (2011). "Completing the Change: The New Zealand Coin Reverses of 1940" (PDF). British Numismatic Journal. 81: 203–222.
• Stocker, Mark (2010). "The New Zealand 'Waitangi' Crown of 1935" (PDF). British Numismatic Journal. 80: 176–188.
• Stocker, Mark (2005). "'A Very Satisfactory Series': The 1933 New Zealand Coinage Designs" (PDF). British Numismatic Journal. 75: 142–160. Archived (PDF) from the original on 8 November 2023.
• Humble, Michael (Dec 1992). "The Waitangi Proof Set Revisited". New Zealand Numismatic Journal (70): 13–17.
• Hargreaves, R. P. (1972). From Beads to Banknotes. Dunedin: John McIndoe.