Half-crown (New Zealand coin)

Half-crown

New Zealand
Value	2½s (£NZ)
Mass	14.14 g
Diameter	32 mm
Edge	Milled
Composition	1933–1946: 50% silver, 50% quaternary alloy 1947–1965: cupronickel (75% copper, 25% nickel)
Years of minting	1933–1965
Obverse
Design	Crowned bust of George V
Designer	Percy Metcalfe
Reverse
Design	The coat of arms of New Zealand, surrounded by Māori carvings.
Designer	George Kruger Gray

The half-crown is the largest of five denominations of New Zealand pound coinage first issued in 1933. Introduced due to shortages of comparable British silver coinage following the devaluation of the New Zealand pound relative to the pound sterling, the coin measures roughly 32 mm (1.3 in) in diameter. It was equal to thirty pence, two and a half shillings, or an eighth of a pound.

Designed by George Kruger Gray, the coin's reverse features the New Zealand coat of arms surrounded by Māori wood carvings. Quickly approved by design committees in Britain and New Zealand to resolve the local currency shortage, the coin was the first denomination of New Zealand coinage to enter circulation. It was initially struck by the Royal Mint in .500 fineness silver, but was produced in cupronickel from 1947 onward. A commemorative issue, celebrating the centennial of the Treaty of Waitangi, entered circulation in 1940.