Halfpenny (New Zealand coin)

Halfpenny

New Zealand
Value	1/2d 1/480 pound
Mass	5.67 g
Diameter	25.5 mm
Edge	Plain
Obverse
Design	Profile portrait of George VI
Designer	Humphrey Paget
Reverse
Design	A hei-tiki with ornamental kowhaiwhai pattern on each side
Designer	Leonard Cornwall Mitchell

The halfpenny was first issued in New Zealand in 1940, seven years after the first introduction of a domestic pound coinage. The coin's issuing was scheduled to align with the centennial of the Treaty of Waitangi and the New Zealand centennial, alongside the penny and centennial half-crown. The coin was designed by New Zealand artist Leonard Cornwall Mitchell after winning a government-sponsored design competition, and then modelled by Royal Mint designer Percy Metcalfe. The halfpenny features the head of the reigning monarch on the obverse, with a hei-tiki pendant ornamented and simplified kowhaiwhai woodcarvings on the reverse. The smallest of all denominations of the New Zealand pound, the copper coin was worth 1/480th of a pound, or 1/120th of a crown, the largest coinage denomination. It was discontinued alongside all other New Zealand currency following decimalisation in 1967.