Shilling (New Zealand coin)

Shilling

New Zealand
Value	1s (£NZ)
Mass	5.66 g
Diameter	23.65 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	A Māori warrior in piupiu, crouched, holding a taiaha.
Designer	George Kruger Gray

The New Zealand shilling was first issued in 1933 alongside four other denominations of New Zealand pound coinage, introduced due to shortages of comparable British silver coinage following the devaluation of the New Zealand pound relative to the pound sterling. Roughly 24 mm in diameter, it is slightly larger than the British coin it replaced. Worth twelve pence, the denomination was equal to half a florin, two sixpence, or two-fifths of a half-crown.

Early designs by Percy Metcalfe depicting a kiwi or crossed Māori tools were rejected by the Royal Mint. Another design featuring a kiwi by George Kruger Gray entered pattern production, but was dismissed by acting prime minister Gordon Coates in favour of a design depicting a Māori man supported by several Māori politicians. Featuring a shirtless Māori warrior crouched on rocks while holding a taiaha, the initially silver coin was released to generally critical public response. Issued in 50% silver until a postwar rise in silver prices triggered a shift to cupronickel in 1947, the coin was minted with relative consistency until 1965, when it was discontinued following decimalisation and the adoption of the New Zealand dollar. Shillings remained legal tender as 10c coins until they were demonetised on 31 October 2006.

British shillings first circulated in New Zealand during the early 19th century alongside various other silver coinage, including American, Spanish, French, and Dutch issues alongside other British silver denominations. The British pound sterling was confirmed as legal tender in 1858,^[1] but had in effect been the sole circulating currency since 1847.^[2] Australia began issuing its own coinage in 1910, including the Australian shilling. Widespread circulation of the Australian silver coinage in New Zealand began in 1930, when Australia devalued the Australian pound relative to the pound sterling. Large amounts of the devalued Australian currency began to flood into New Zealand, eventually making up 30–40% of all coinage in circulation by early 1933. The counterfeiting of silver coins also increased during this period.^[3]

New Zealand followed in devaluing the New Zealand pound in 1933, triggering mass smuggling of silver coinage to Britain and its other colonial possessions. After several decades of proposals, the New Zealand government pursued the creation of a domestic coinage the same year.^[4] The Coinage Act, 1933, outlined the weights and sizes of the six denominations of New Zealand silver coinage, defining the shilling as a coin with a weight of 5.66 grams.^[5] The shilling was worth twelve pence or half a florin. Although domestic firms offered to produce the coinage, the New Zealand government deemed that domestic facilities were not sufficient for mass production, and contracted with the Royal Mint for minting.^[6]

All coinage obverses from the initial 1933 issue featured a crowned bust of George V designed by Royal Mint designer Percy Metcalfe, initially for use on the Southern Rhodesian pound. This was based on an older crowned bust by Australian sculptor Bertram Mackennal, used on the coinage of other British colonies and dominions. Reverse designs were a matter of collaboration between the Royal Mint Advisory Committee, headed by Deputy Master Robert Johnson, and the New Zealand government. Local artists and members of the New Zealand Numismatic Society were consulted throughout the design process, but British designers were tasked with creating an initial series of designs, despite requests from local art societies for domestic artistry of the coins. Metcalfe and George Kruger Gray were experienced artists who had each previously designed coinage for several other British dominions and colonies. The two were tasked to submit designs for each of the five initial silver denominations of coinage.^[7][8]

Kruger Gray's initial kiwi shilling design, 1933

Metcalfe's kiwi shilling design, 1933

Metcalfe submitted two designs. His first featured a toki poutangata (A Māori ceremonial greenstone adze) crossed with a whakapakoko rākau (godstick), bisecting the text "SHILLING" and "NZ". Interrupting the text and juxtaposing two unrelated Māori implements, the design was swiftly rejected by the Mint Advisory Committee.^[9] Metcalfe would later submit a variation of this design for use on the penny, but it was also rejected.^[10]

Metcalfe's second design showed an abstracted kiwi facing towards the viewer and standing on flat ground, with the label of "SHILLING" above, "N" and "Z" at front and back of the bird, and the date below. The Advisory Committee rejected this design without comment.^[9] While this kiwi was described in a 1966 issue of the New Zealand Numismatic Journal as "hardly recognisable",^[11] a 2004 supplementary issue described it as an Art Deco design, "timeless, stylish and funky".^[12]

Kruger Gray's design, well-liked by the committee, also featured an abstract kiwi, with rippled divots across its body. Kowhaiwhai motifs flank the bird on three sides, along with a textured ground arcing beneath. Coinage Committee member and numismatic historian Allan Sutherland likened the kiwi design to a pine-cone, disapproving of the rendering: "The average New Zealander would not accept this as an accurate representation of the national wingless bird.^[9] This shilling was approved by the Royal Mint Advisory Committee, alongside other designs by Kruger Gray for the other initial denominations of the coinage.^[9]

New Zealand's prime minister George Forbes held a very weak premiership, and finance minister Gordon Coates served as de facto acting prime minister, especially during Forbes' extended stays in Britain. In July 1933, Coates appointed a Coinage Design Committee, composed of various local artists alongside members of the New Zealand Numismatic Society. This new committee took significant issue with the approved coinage designs, rejecting the abstracted kiwi design in favour of a naturalistic design to be used on the larger florin reverse. With the florin proposed as a base unit of a future decimal coinage, the committee prioritised the kiwi's presence on the coin. The shilling, on advice from Minister of Native Affairs Sir Āpirana Ngata, was prescribed as a "Maori figure crouching alert with taiaha [...] design fairly filling circle, plain field." The Royal Mint was asked to reference Allan Gairdner Wyon's 1911 design for the Hector Memorial Medal, the obverse of which shows a Māori hunter snaring a huia.^[13][14] The request for a Māori figure to be added to the currency was supported by other Māori politicians such as Eruera Tirikatene, MP for the Southern Maori district.^[15]

Deputy Master Johnson attempted to contact Wyon to procure a medal for reference on the shilling. The two, business competitors in medal design, disliked each other. Wyon, suspecting that Johnson would attempt to copy his work, refused to loan a copy to the Royal Mint. Kruger Gray, also unable to reference the medal, was disappointed by the elimination of kowhaiwhai, considering it important to preserving a distinct national character for the New Zealand coinage. He considered the shilling as too small a coin for a full-body figure, recommending it instead be put on the florin. Several days after the request was brought to Kruger Gray, Johnson reassured him that the original designs would go forward, and he was asked to proceed with the shilling with slight modifications, including increased definition given to the nostrils of the bird. Johnson cited agreement from Prime Minister Forbes on the use of the kiwi shilling: "New Zealand Premier wishes to abide strictly by the decision [...] and proposes to disregard the observations of the local Committee."^[16]Alongside a threepence using a hei-tiki motif, this adjusted shilling was one of only two of the rejected designs to reach the production of pattern coins, with surviving examples held at the Royal Mint Museum,^[17] as well as one privately-held example certified by PCGS.^[18]

While the Advisory Committee continued work on the coinage, citing the urgent need for domestic coinage and the delay any such redesign would cause, Coates continued to cable the Royal Mint with details for the redesign. The Advisory Committee aimed to stall until Forbes' return to New Zealand on 20 September, upon which Coates would lose acting ministerial powers and work could continue on the originally approved designs. Johnson drafted a telegram to be sent to Coates, proposing a redesign for the 1934 issue, while maintaining the Advisory Committee's designs for the 1933 coins, while reiterating objections on the suitability of a full body depiction of the Māori on a shilling-sized coin.^[19]

However, Forbes ultimately conceded to the Design Committee upon his return to New Zealand, alerting the Royal Mint in early October to continue with the proposed redesign. Kruger Gray's abstracted kiwi design was initially transferred to the florin directly, but he was ultimately forced to redesign it in a naturalistic fashion.^[20]

Philippines one centavo, under the American Insular Government

Kruger Gray's initial sketch of the redesigned shilling

Coates specified that the Māori figure on the shilling should be depicted in "proper war dance [Haka] attitude", and advised reference to the contemporary Philippine one centavo; he was "unable to understand" Johnson's objections to the design's scale on the shilling, and sketches were sent to assist.^[21] A request by MP Eruera Tirikatene for the figure to be tattooed was dismissed by Coates, who believed it would present New Zealanders as "savage Maoris".^[15]

Kruger Gray rapidly progressed with the new design instructions, submitting by mid-October a sketch approximating the final design. Instead of a haka, the warrior is shown in a piupiu, shirtless and turned away from the viewer, crouched atop a rock or escarpment. He holds a taiaha in both his hands, pointing forward.^[22][23] By November, the design had been approved and Kruger Gray was asked to proceed with modelling the shilling for production.^[24] They were the last of the 1933 issue to reach New Zealand, entering circulation at Dunedin on 3 April 1934.^[25] Johnson's concerns about the force required to depict the high relief figure turned prescient, as harder blows led to much shorter lifespans for the individual dies while minting the shilling.^[26]

While the new coinage was welcomed by the New Zealand public, reaction to the shilling was mixed. The ahistorical usage of the piupiu garment (associated with modern Haka dance and ceremony) in a combat scenario was criticised, alongside the awkward pose with which the taiaha was held.^[27] Allan Sutherland was pleased with the design, but regretted an "absence of youth, vigour and vitality" in the warrior's depiction.^[26] The shilling was criticised in Dominion by ethnologist Johannes Andersen as overly warlike. He suggested that a frontal view, or a design more akin to the hunting scene depicted in the Hector Medal, would be more appropriate.^[28]

Mintage of the shilling stayed relatively stable across its lifespan, with only five years where no circulating pieces were produced. However, low mintage figures in the early 1940s and 1950s lead to significantly scarcity of uncirculated coins of some dates, with some, such as the 1955 shilling, worth hundreds of dollars at market in mint condition.^[29] No commemorative issues were produced.^[30]

Two significant error varieties of the shilling exist, commanding significantly higher prices than the standard issues of their dates. Shillings of the "broken back" variety were minted in small quantities in 1942 and 1958. A "no horizon" variety appeared in the 1962 issue.^[29] Due to high prices of silver in the years following World War II, previously silver denominations (including the shilling) were instead made of a cupronickel alloy from 1947, besides a crown issue in 1949. Much silver coinage was recalled from circulation and melted down by banks. The shilling was abolished in 1967 in favour of the new denominations of the New Zealand dollar.^[31]