The George V Half Penny series, lasting throughout George V's reign from 1911 to 1936, features a partitioned, circular
reverse design with 'COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA' around the outer ring with the year at the bottom and 'ONE HALF PENNY' within the inner ring. The
obverse features the crowned bust of King George V facing to the left and the
legend, 'GEORGIVS V D.G. BRITT : OMN : REX F. D. IND : IMP' ('George V, by the grace of god, Ruler and King of Britain, Defender of the Faith, Emperor of India').
Like most George V series, this a very popular series to collect. In lower grade, all dates can be acquired at reasonable expense excluding the 1923 Half Penny (
Learn more about the 1923 Half Penny). Type set collectors would do well aiming for the 1934 (
Learn more about the 1934 Half Penny), 1935 (
Learn more about the 1935 Half Penny), 1936 (
Learn more about the 1936 Half Penny) for good strikes though the 1911 (
Learn more about the 1911 Half Penny), 1912-H (
Learn more about the 1912-H Half Penny) and 1919 (
Learn more about the 1919 Half Penny) are reasonably affordable if original
mint brilliance is desired.
This series was struck at the London, Heaton, Bombay, Sydney and Melbourne
mints. From 1911 to 1915 the London
mint struck the half pennies unless they bear the
mintmark 'H' under the lower scroll on the
reverse, which indicates they were struck at the Heaton
mint. From 1916 to 1918 the Calcutta
mint struck half pennies bearing the
mintmark 'I' under the lower scroll on the
reverse. From 1919 to 1922 the Sydney
mint struck the half pennies with the rest of the series being struck by the Melbourne
mint, except in 1926 where both the Melbourne and Sydney
mints were employed until the closing of the Sydney
mint later that year.