Sterling Silver Kookaburra Penny, 1919, Type 4

Sterling Silver Kookaburra Penny, 1919, Type 4

This coin has the immaculate design detail of the Type 4. But was struck in .925 fine Sterling Silver for Albert Le Souef, a passionate collector who also was a Deputy Master of the Melbourne Mint between 1921 and 1926.

He amassed a magnificent collection that was almost entirely donated to the Museum of Victoria. 

His love of silver coinage was the driving force behind the striking of three Square Pennies in Sterling Silver. All dated 1919. The first was struck depicting the Type 4 design, this coin. 

A second depicting the Type 5 and the third, the design of the Type 6. Each coin is unique. And each is stunning. You would be forgiven for thinking they were struck to proof quality. The Sterling Silver Kookaburra Pennies have never been offered at auction. The earliest recorded private sale was in 1992, for $25,000.

Sterling Silver Kookaburra Penny, 1919, Type 4

Rarity - Unique.

Composition - Sterling Silver (.925 fine)

Reverse - Kookaburra perched on a section of a tree branch, the word 'AUSTRALIA' sharply curved in large lettering, the penny denomination over two lines. The kookaburra presents a fuller version to the Type 5 and is shared with the Type 6, the beak elongated extending past the 'L' in 'AUSTRALIA' to the 'I', the tail with four feathers, the eye struck incuse. 

Obverse - Uncrowned effigy of George V, portrait reduced from a metal die supplied by Australian manufacturer, Stokes & Son and shared with the Type 3 and Type 5 Kookaburra Penny. The circular legend reads, GEORGE V D. G. BRITT: OMN:REX, the date appearing below the portrait with ornamental stops separating it from the legend. 

The Melbourne Mint commenced striking Australia's Commonwealth copper pennies in 1919.  No sooner had the mint started issuing coins, than it was directed by Treasury to commence testing an entirely new penny concept, a square coin made from cupro-nickel. 

The Melbourne Mint was established in 1872, and was a producer of gold and silver coins and had just commenced production of bronze pennies in 1919. While new to the mint, the striking of nickel coinage as legal tender had been incorporated into the Commonwealth's Coinage Act of 1909 (No. 6 of 1909), passed after Federation.

The period 1919 to 1921, sits squarely in the post–World War I period, the first years of peace after immense war-time loss. And an experimental era when Australia was rebuilding its national confidence and defining its own national identity through design. Or through whatever means it could. 

For many Australians, it was a time for breaking out, of questioning and changing old values and behaviour and enjoying the good life. It was a time of great change. People forgot the old and embraced the new in an attempt to leave the hardship and struggles of the war behind them. New technology was being created, like toasters and cars, things that today we take for granted. The fashion world was exploding, Australians embracing great change in their styles of dress.

Australians were identifying with their own culture, keen to lessen the emotional and cultural ties with Great Britain. The Government wanted to tap into this nationalistic sentiment and create a new, totally Australian coinage, the Kookaburra Penny and Kookaburra Halfpenny, envisaging coins that would be unique to Australia.

It was one of the instruments the Government believed would give us a greater awareness, and appreciation, of all things Australian. A mechanism to promote national spirit. 

The proposal was contentious in that King George V was depicted on the obverse without a crown. It is noted that all coins struck under the newly formed Commonwealth of Australia depicted a crowned monarch.

Contentious also the use of the word 'Australia' in the design and not 'Commonwealth of Australia'. It was a hard road to Federation, uniting the six colonies under one banner, involving decades of negotiation and intense debate. Ultimately, the six separate British colonies united under the banner Commonwealth of Australia on January 1, 1901. Again it is noted that Australia's bronze pennies and halfpennies issued by the newly formed Commonwealth of Australia acknowledged the nation's federated status in the legend.

Trials commenced at the Melbourne Mint in 1919 and continued until 1921, the mint producing different designs, each a variation of the one theme of a kookaburra sitting on a branch and on the other side, an uncrowned portrait of George V. The test pieces ultimately passed to dignitaries and Government officials to assess their reaction. 

The program of testing did not move forward beyond 1921. And the coins did not move into production. It is believed that over the three-year period two hundred pieces, of various designs, were produced, of which we estimate, one hundred and fifty are available to collectors. 

There is no consensus as to why the coins did not move into production. The resignation in 1920 of Treasurer, William Watts, a supporter of the Kookaburra coinage did not impact on the program as his replacement Sir Joseph Cook was strongly in favour. That vending machines required a circular coin is also refuted as is the claim that it was unpopular with the general population. 

Our view is that it was simply too soon in the national psyche.

While shaping our identity was politically expedient, uniting the states under the banner of Commonwealth of Australia was deemed a higher and more important priority. And the reality is the words 'Commonwealth of Australia' could never have been incorporated into the kookaburra design, given the size of the coins. 

The quest to define Australia's national identity began with the Kookaburra Pennies and Halfpennies. It was Australia's first attempt at independent design in our coinage, a currency that was Australian in imagery, concept and form. 

Transitioning to a more independent identity commenced in 1937/1938. And was extended in 1966, when Australia changed to decimal currency. On the five denominations, one, two, five, ten and twenty cent, the word 'Australia' appeared on the obverse and animals native to Australia appeared on the reverse. 

For many collectors the fascination with the Kookaburra Penny and Halfpenny takes them on a journey to acquire more than one example. The coins are engaging and their rarity offers collectors the challenge they so often seek.