1/2 Penny - George V Kookaburra Pattern - Type 2

In 1921, the Melbourne Mint explored replacing the traditional bronze halfpenny with a copper-nickel alloy, commissioning several pattern types featuring the kookaburra — a design championed by Ernest de la Rue and considered a distinctly Australian alternative to the seated Britannia inherited from British coinage. The Type 2 designation distinguishes this from concurrent pattern variants struck the same year, reflecting deliberate experimentation with both alloy and design simultaneously.

None of the kookaburra patterns were adopted. The conservative decision to retain bronze and the existing British-derived types prevailed, leaving these pieces as trial survivors rather than precursors to anything that followed.