Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
1/2 Penny - Elizabeth II 1st Portrait, with 'F:D:'
| Issuer | Royal Australian Mint |
|---|---|
| Year | 1959-1964 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | Log in to see details |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Technique | Milled |
| Orientation | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Laureate effigy of Queen Elizabeth II facing right, as sculpted by Mary Gillick, representing the first definitive portrait of the Queen used on Australian coinage. The Queen is depicted with a laurel wreath in her hair and a light drapery at the shoulder. The circular legend reads 'ELIZABETH·II·DEI·GRATIA·REGINA·F:D:' around the periphery, with the addition of 'F:D:' (Fidei Defensor — Defender of the Faith) distinguishing this later issue from the earlier portrait type. The effigy is rendered in a refined classical style with fine detail in the hair and drapery. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | +ELIZABETH·II·DEI·GRATIA·REGINA·F:D: (Translation: Elizabeth II by the Grace of God, Queen, Defender of the Faith) |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse script | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Edge | Log in to see details |
| Mint | Log in to see details |
| Mintage | Log in to see details |
| Additional information |
Australia's pre-decimal halfpenny had an almost entirely functional existence — low purchasing power, resented by retailers, and already being phased out of practical use well before decimal changeover arrived in 1966. The truncation of the series at 1964 was deliberate; the Decimal Currency Board saw no point carrying halfpenny denominations into the new system, and production simply stopped. By the final years of issue, most pieces were hoarded or lost rather than actively spent.
The addition of "F:D:" — *Fidei Defensor*, Defender of the Faith — to Australian coinage came later than on British issues of the same reign, reflecting periodic Commonwealth debates over royal titulature following Elizabeth II's accession in 1952.