Oosthuizen Collection 1/2 Penny
1924

Owner Comments:

South African Union coins were minted at the Royal Mint in Pretoria from 1923.

The half penny is a bronze coin containing 95.5% copper, 3% tin and 1.5% zinc. From 1923 to 1942 all bronze coins were artificially blackened so as to distinguish them more easily from the gold coins in circulation (half sovereign and sovereign minted until 1932). From 1942 onward, bronze coins had a bright red appearance.

The King George V series half penny features a portrait of King George V on the obverse. The obverse design was by Bertram Mackennal. The reverse design by Kruger Gray features an image of the Dromedaris, one of the three vessels that brought Jan van Riebeeck and his party to the Cape, which led to the founding of the Cape colony and settlement of Europeans in what was to become South Africa.

Total mintage of 1924 1/2 pennies were 64 165.