Australian Mint Marks

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The halfpennies of Queen Victoria's long reign (1837-1901) can be basically divided into the copper issue of 1838-1860, where the coins were 9.1-9.5 grams in weight and 28 millimetres in diameter, and which were very similar to the halfpennies of her two predecessors (with the obvious substitution of REG for REX on the reverse!), and the bronze issue of 1860-1901 (which itself is split between 1894 and 1895 into coins displaying the "young head" and the "old head" of the Queen).

The bronze coins weighed 5.5-5.8 grams and were 25 millimetres in diameter. The bronze coins also featured the denomination HALF PENNY on the reverse for the first time, with the date in the exergue beneath Britannia. The inscription on the obverse of the "young head" coins reads VICTORIA D G BRITT REG F D, while on the "old head" it is VICTORIA DEI GRA BRITT REGINA FID DEF IND IMP. Some 1874-1876 and 1881-1882 halfpennies have an "H" mintmark underneath the date, indicating that they were produced at the Heaton mint in Birmingham.

Halfpennies were produced in all years of Victoria's reign except 1837, 1840, 1842, 1849 and 1850.