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Australia George V

1915-H Half Penny

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In 1915 the Heaton mint struck the last half pennies they would produce for Australia during the reign of King George V signified by the H mintmark beneath the lower scroll on the reverse, as with the 1912-H and the 1914-H half pennies. The 1915-H is by far the scarcest half penny, short of the 1923, largely owing to the low initial mintage of only 720,000 pieces. In mint state the 1915-H is also very scarce but the 1924 is probably slightly scarcer with at least two examples of the 1915-H displaying full mint brilliance being available. The H mintmark is present below the lower scroll on the reverse on this coin.

H mintmark on the 1915 half penny

The coin is often poorly struck up on both faces, in particular around the center of the coin and sometimes around the outer edge giving the appearance of a lower grade coin. Mint lustre is typically strong like the 1912 and 1914 half pennies from the Heaton mint making differentiation between softly struck and worn examples quite easy.

Softly struck up crown of a 1915 half penny

As can be seen in the above photo of a mint state 1915 half penny, parts of the crown are completely missing, most likely due to low die pressure applied to extend the working life of the dies. (Sterling & Currency, 2008)