NewGuinea6d1935.jpg
Is this a star on the New Guinea sixpence?
Yes, the proclamation says 'a representation of the stone head of a native war club in the form of and eight pointed star' on the reverse.
Quote from: malj1 on December 04, 2011, 11:04:49 PM
Yes, the proclamation says 'a representation of the stone head of a native war club in the form of and eight pointed star' on the reverse.
Excellent detail. Is this online? Does it give descriptions for the other designs? The threepence in particular is a puzzle.
Yes it has descriptions for all the other designs; From... From Cowrie to Kina by Dr William J D Mira.1986. publ. Spink and Sons. ....A lovely book.
The three pence; 'on the reverse side symmetrically surrounding the hole, a square surmounting a representation of the stone head of a native war club with four points, one point projecting symmetrically from each side of the square and in the margin two inscriptions......'
Quote from: malj1 on December 04, 2011, 11:43:31 PM
Yes it has descriptions for all the other designs; From... From Cowrie to Kina by Dr William J D Mira.1986. publ. Spink and Sons. ....A lovely book.
The three pence; 'on the reverse side symmetrically surrounding the hole, a square surmounting a representation of the stone head of a native war club with four points, one point projecting symmetrically from each side of the square and in the margin two inscriptions......'
Thank you, this is fascinating. And I thought they were just abstract patterns. Would you have time to do a scan or do the other descriptions? This ought to be recorded.
Yes I shall do an OCR scan as its a little big as an image.
Perhaps you may want to start a New Guinea thread? It'll be an hour or so before I get to it!
NG1936PENNY_r.jpg
NGthreepence1935.jpg
New Guinea 1d 1936.jpg
NewGuinea19361d.jpg
NG1s.jpg
New Guinea ½d 1929.jpg
Every penny shall have on the obverse side an Imperial Crown above the hole, the Imperial Monogram G.R.I, below the hole, and, on either side of the hole, representations of ornamental carvings on native war canoes — and on the reverse side, surrounding the hole, representations of native ornamental carving, and in the margin two inscriptions TERRITORY OF NEW GUINEA and ONE PENNY together with the year of the coin in figures.
Every threepence shall have on the obverse side an Imperial Crown above the hole, the Imperial Monogram G.R.I, below the hole, and the year of the coin across the coin — two figures on either side of the hole — and on the reverse side symmetrically surrounding the hole, a square surmounting a representation of the stone head of a native war club with four points, one point projecting symmetrically from each side of the square and in the margin two inscriptions — TERRITORY OF NEW GUINEA and THREEPENCE
Every sixpence shall have on the obverse side an Imperial Crown above the hole, the Imperial monogram G.R.I, below the hole and the year of the coin across the coin — two figures on either side of the hole — and on the reverse side, symmetrically surrounding the hole, a representation of the stone head of a native war club in the form of an eight-pointed star, and in the margin two inscriptions TERRITORY OF NEW GUINEA and SIXPENCE
Every shilling shall have on the obverse side an Imperial Crown above the hole, two royal sceptres crossed below the hole, a necklet of dogs' teeth entwining the sceptres, a seven-pointed star between the bases of sceptres, and in the margin the inscription GEORGIUS V. D.G. REX ET IND. IMP. and on the reverse side four oblong representations of a native carving extending from the hole, in the form of a Greek cross interspersed by four narrow pointed representations of a native carving and in the margin two inscriptions TERRITORY OF NEW GUINEA and ONE SHILLING together with the year of the coin in figures.
(http://www.worldofcoins.eu/forum/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=6482.0;attach=8655;image)
From... From Cowrie to Kina by Dr William J D Mira.1986. publ. Spink and Sons.
Descriptions of the designs and physical data were published in Coinage Proclamations No's 1 and 2, in the New Guinea Gazette and were deemed to have operated from 2 December 1935. The information however, was found to be inaccurate and these two proclamations were rescinded and replaced by the following, Coinage Proclamation No. 3:
ORDINANCE
by the Administrator of the Territory of New Guinea under the Currency Coinage and Tokens Ordinance 1922-1935.
WHEREAS by section fifteen of the Currency Coinage and Tokens Ordinance 1922-1935 it is amongst other things proved that the Administrator may by proclamation determine the dimensions of the design for any Territory coins:
AND WHEREAS by Coinage Proclamation No. 1 and Coinage Proclamation No. 2, each dated the eleventh day of March, One thousand nine hundred and thirty-eight, the Administrator determined the dimensions of and design for each of the Territory coins known as the shilling, the sixpence, the threepence and the penny:
AND WHEREAS it is desirable to revoke the said Proclamations and to issue a Proclamation in Substitution for those Proclamations:
NOW THEREFORE I, Walter Ramsay McNicoll, the Administrator of the Territory of New Guinea, do hereby revoke the said Coinage Proclamation No. 1 and Coinage Proclamation No. 2 and determine that —
1. Every Territory coin shall be circular, shall have a concentric hole and shall approximate in dimensions to the dimensions specified for coins of the same denomination in the following table:
Denomination of coin. Diameter of Coin. Diameter of Hole. Thickness of coin where not raised or embossed.
Inches Inches Inches
Shilling .9335 .178 .064
Sixpence .738 .155 .055
Threepence .6426 .1385 .0455
Penny 1.068 .1462 .061
2. Every Shilling and Sixpence shall have a milled edge and every threepence and penny shall have a plain edge.
3. The designs for the said coins shall be as follows:
(a) Every shilling shall have on the obverse side an Imperial Crown above the hole, two royal sceptres crossed below the hole, a necklet of dogs' teeth entwining the sceptres, a seven-pointed star between
the bases of sceptres, and in the margin the inscription GEORGIUS V. D.G. REX ET IND. IMP. and on the reverse side four oblong representations of a native carving extending from the hole, in the form of a Greek cross interspersed by four narrow pointed representations of a native carving and in the margin two inscriptions TERRITORY OF NEW GUINEA and ONE SHILLING together with the year of the coin in figures;
(b) Every sixpence shall have on the obverse side an Imperial Crown above the hole, the Imperial monogram G.R.I, below the hole and the year of the coin across the coin — two figures on either side of
the hole — and on the reverse side, symmetrically surrounding the hole, a representation of the stone head of a native war club in the form of an eight-pointed star, and in the margin two inscriptions TERRITORY OF NEW GUINEA and SIXPENCE;
(c) Every threepence shall have on the obverse side an Imperial Crown above the hole, the Imperial Monogram G.R.I, below the hole, and the year of the coin across the coin — two figures on either side of
the hole — and on the reverse side symmetrically surrounding the hole, a square surmounting a representation of the stone head of a native war club with four points, one point projecting symmetrically from each side of the square and in the margin two inscriptions — TERRITORY OF NEW GUINEA and THREEPENCE; and
(d) Every penny shall have on the obverse side an Imperial Crown above the hole, the Imperial Monogram G.R.I, below the hole, and, on either side of the hole, representations of ornamental carvings on native war canoes — and on the reverse side, surrounding the hole, representations of native ornamental carving, and in the margin two inscriptions TERRITORY OF NEW GUINEA and ONE PENNY together with the year of the coin in figures.
Marvellous, malj1, thanks. And I thought Mr Kruger-Gray had just been amusing himself with abstract patterns, but it's all meaningful. 8)
Mention is also made that striking was further complicated by the death of George V and the Melbourne mint continued using the 1935 punches for the 3d and 6d and 1936 for the 1/- as the mint was unable to change these to Edwardus VIII, for this to be done the dies had to be sent to England.
Malcolm.
Apparently the dogs' teeth mentioned were used as money in the days before coins were made available.
These Dansco albums were popular around 1965 as decimalisation approached Australia, and New guinea, in February 1966.
And of course the average collector could not hope to obtain the 1929 issue so these were not entirely punched out.
And the second page...
Quote from: coffeetime on December 05, 2011, 01:20:40 AM
Apparently the dogs' teeth mentioned were used as money in the days before coins were made available.
Yes a wonderful collection of objects were used as currency before the white man came along. Shells, dog's teeth and boar tusks, [the number of turns increased the value] were a sign of wealth, along with beads, white being the lowest value and red the highest and stone axe heads. The gold lip shell - the Kina - was used in many area of New Guinea until the 1960's. Kina was perpetuated in the currency name of today along with the toea, an arm band, a traditional trade item and 'bride price' payment of Papua.
Good read. Thanks everyone.
:) v.
from Opitz's book on "Traditional Moneys"
cheers
--
Harald
These decimal coinage issues of Papua New Guinea taken from circulation.
The common obverse. Turtle 5t; Cuscus 10t; Cassowary 20t.
That is one of the very few circulation sets that was designed by the Franklin Mint, who also minted proof and specimen sets, with some circulation coins over the same period.
Here are the descriptions for the set, with the designer, taken from the Franklin M int catalogue, marked as "D:"
1 Toea. Paradise birdwing butterfly. D: Herman deRoos.
2 Toea. Butterfly codfish. D: William Shoyer.
5 Toea. Pitted shell turtle. D: William Shoyer.
10 Toea. Spotted cuscus. D: Herman deRoos.
20 Toea. Dwarf cassowary. (Muruk bird). D: William Shoyer.
1 Kina. River and sea crocodiles. D: William Shoyer.
Reverse: Stylised emblem of
Bank of Papua New Guinea. D: Richard Renninger.
From... From Cowrie to Kina by Dr William J D Mira.1986. publ. Spink and Sons.
Descriptions of the designs and physical data of the decimal coinage issues of Papua New Guinea.
THE COINAGE
General Circulation Specie
Designer:
Various Papua New Guinea artists in collaboration with the Royal Mint, United Kingdom.
Manufacture:
All general circulation coins are struck by the Royal Mint, except the 1975 K1 when the Royal Canberra Mint struck 4,000,000 and the Royal Mint 2,000,000.
Obverse:
1 - 20toea:(t1 - 20)
The official emblem of Papua New Guinea: a Bird of Paradise seated on a Kundu drum.
1 Kina:(K1)
The official crest (logo) of the Bank of Papua New Guinea; a stylised Bird of Paradise.
Reverse and Physical Data:
1 toea: (wan toea: toea ta)
Diameter = 17.65mm. : Weight = 2.07 grams.
Metal = Bronze
The Paradise Birdwing Butterfly — one of the largest and most colourful butterflies in the world, found in the lowland tropical forests of Papua New Guinea.
2 toea: (tu toea : toea rua)
Diameter = 21.72mm. : Weight = 4.15 grams.
Metal = Bronze
The Butterfly Codfish — found in most reefs around Papua New Guinea; it often changes colour to camouflage itself against predators.
5 toea: (faiv toea : toea ima)
Diameter = 19.53mm. : Weight = 2.83 grams. Metal = cupro-nickel
The Plateless Freshwater Turtle is rarely found outside Papua New Guinea, completely aquatic and herbivorous it lives in the rivers and swamps.
10 toea: (ten toea : toea gwauta) Diameter = 23.72mm. : Weight = 5.65 grams. Metal = Cupro-nickel
The Spotted Cuscus — a marsupial found in the grasslands and swamps: hunted for its meat and skin, the fur is often used for decoration.
20 toea: (tupela ten toea : toea ruahiu) Diameter = 28.65mm. : Weight = 11.30 grams. Metal = Cupro-nickel
Bennett's Cassowary — a flightless bird with large muscular legs giving it high speed on the ground. Found in the lowland regions.
1 Kina: (Wan Kina : Kina ta)
Diameter = 33.00mm. : Central Hole = 6.90mm. Weight = 14.52 grams. Metal = Cupro-nickel
Two species of crocodile; on the left, the saltwater species; on the right, the freshwater type. The latter inhabits the inland rivers and swamps.
The Head Tax Discs.
The Territory of New Guinea Head Tax Discs, all are in aluminium with a diameter of 35mm.
From the beginning of the Australian Mandate period [1921-42] the tax was fixed at 10/-. The government patrol official, having previously advised the village chiefs, went to the native villages to collect the tax from each male villager and handed out these discs as a receipt. This was maintained until the Japanese invasion in 1942 which caused their cessation.
These two discs were seen on eBay recently along with another.
I notice the penny shown at Reply #6 (http://www.worldofcoins.eu/forum/index.php/topic,12670.msg85998.html#msg85998) has the initials ERI of Edward VIII
(http://www.worldofcoins.eu/forum/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=12670.0;attach=72574;image)
Quote from: malj1 on December 06, 2011, 12:22:59 AM
From... From Cowrie to Kina by Dr William J D Mira.1986. publ. Spink and Sons.
Descriptions of the designs and physical data of the decimal coinage issues of Papua New Guinea.
THE COINAGE
1 toea: (wan toea: toea ta)
2 toea: (tu toea : toea rua)
5 toea: (faiv toea : toea ima)
10 toea: (ten toea : toea gwauta)
20 toea: (tupela ten toea : toea ruahiu)
1 Kina: (Wan Kina : Kina ta)
I don't have a copy of Mira - does he say what the second language in brackets is? There's definitely a link with the Polynesian languages, however, distant, with the words for one, two and five (cf. tahi, rua and rima in Maori), though I realise there are also similarities in the broader Melanesian/Malay families too. "Ten" varies greatly even within the Polynesian group so I can't hook "gwauta" up with anything else at the moment. "Tupela ten" in Pidgin tickles me ("two-fellow ten").
EDIT: Found it by Googling "gwauta". Looks to be Motu: http://www.education.gov.pg/index.php?content=students/secondary
Quote from: translateltd on April 16, 2012, 11:00:52 AM
I don't have a copy of Mira - does he say what the second language in brackets is? There's definitely a link with the Polynesian languages, however, distant, with the words for one, two and five (cf. tahi, rua and rima in Maori), though I realise there are also similarities in the broader Melanesian/Malay families too. "Ten" varies greatly even within the Polynesian group so I can't hook "gwauta" up with anything else at the moment. "Tupela ten" in Pidgin tickles me ("two-fellow ten").
EDIT: Found it by Googling "gwauta". Looks to be Motu: http://www.education.gov.pg/index.php?content=students/secondary
this paragraph
ibid. confirms that and adds a little more.
.......Mr Chan added: "I therefore propose that the name of the dollar equivalent should be Kina, and the name of the cent equivalent should be toea. The word Kina is found in both the Pidgin and Kuanua languages. In pidgin it refers to the valuable pearl shell used widely in the Highlands as a traditional store of wealth. It is probably the source of one of the terms for pearl shell in the Mount Hagen Melpa language, Kin. The fact that this shell is traded into the Highlands from coastal areas far afield makes it an appropriate national name for one of the basic units of our new currency.
"The word toea is a Motu word meaning valuable arm-shell. The toea has had a wide traditional use in coastal Papua for trading and bride-price payments. One bride-price recorded about 70 years ago consisted of 43 toea, three pigs and 100 dogs' teeth. I am not sure whether there has been inflation or deflation since then. The combination of these two names should help to preserve a valuable part of our cultural traditions, drawn from as broad a spectrum as possible of the whole of Papua New Guinea." .....
Quote from: translateltd on April 16, 2012, 11:00:52 AM
"Tupela ten" in Pidgin tickles me ("two-fellow ten").
Usually twenty is quoted as "twenti" in Tok Pisin (the PNG Pidgin), maybe there are several expressions for it.
All creolic languages are extremely diverse (and flexible).
The other "language" given is probably a mix of various languages. PNG counts about 1'000 of them which
belong to 10 or so language families, some of them are not even related to one another. None of these
languages is used across the entire island and could go as a national language. BTW, as I have read English
and Tok Pisin are not understood outside the few centres either. So, it must be difficult to establish a centralised communication (from the government, for instance).
The numerals that exhibit similarities to the Melanesian familiy ("rua") are doubtful as the the languages spoken
on PNG do not belong there. Probably in the coastal regions or the islands there are Melanesians, too.
cheers
--
Harald
Quote from: Harald on April 18, 2012, 10:04:24 PM
The numerals that exhibit similarities to the Melanesian familiy ("rua") are doubtful as the the languages spoken
on PNG do not belong there. Probably in the coastal regions or the islands there are Melanesians, too.
Thanks, Harald - that's why I thought it a little unusual. When I looked at a listing of numbers in Motu it was interesting that not all were Poly/Melanesian - "eight" for instance looked like "two fours", and "nine" "two fours one".
As an aside, a colleague once went on a course to learn one of the "pidgin" languages (I forget now if it was Tok Pisin or Bislama) and said one day that her instructor had been to a remote island (somewhere in PNG/Vanuatu) and had "discovered" a language that was unrelated to anything else. I don't know exactly where or what the language was, but all the words in the list she brought back were recognisably Polynesian, even based on my only superficial acquaintance with Maori at the time. It could even have been Motu - certainly not "unrelated to anything", in any case!
Here is what Ethnologue says about PNG: http://www.ethnologue.com/show_country.asp?name=PG
Apparently 20% of the languages (or speakers) are Austronesian, the rest are Papua.
cheers
--
Harald
At present on eBay (http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Vintage-New-Guinea-Mount-Hagen-Primitive-Currency-Stone-Axe-1-/170868756559?pt=AU_Ethnographic_Antiques&hash=item27c892504f) there are some nice currency axes. see his other items too.
A nice Mount Hagen currency axe. Carried by warriors and used in trade and "Bride Price" ceremonies. Collected in the early 1970's. Axe measures 64 x 53 cm. Blade measures 10 x 24 cm.
I have:
New Caledonia
New Foundland
New Zealand
That is all the "NEW" I have.
No New Guinea
No New Hebrides
Any other "New" Coins out there?
Dale
Quote from: Prosit on July 20, 2012, 04:59:57 PM
Any other "New" Coins out there?
Dale
Post First World War, none I can think of, but probably the German Empire had a few states beginning with "New". But Newfoundland is all one word - just so we don't confuse any surfers. ;)
I forgot! I also have a coin from New Brunswick.
I can't think of any German or Itallian States that started with "New".
Dale
Quote from: <k> on July 20, 2012, 05:32:56 PM
Post First World War, none I can think of, but probably the German Empire had a few states beginning with "New". But Newfoundland is all one word - just so we don't confuse any surfers. ;)
Tabu is the traditional shell money used in East New Britain by the Tolai community. More information here (http://www.michie.net/pnginfo/monidoba.html)
I also read there that the 1 and 2 toea coins were discontinued in 2007 and are no longer legal tender - most have now been returned to the bank.
Quote from: Prosit on July 20, 2012, 08:12:46 PM
I forgot! I also have a coin from New Brunswick.
I can't think of any German or Itallian States that started with "New".
Dale
You could extend the frame a little to cover 18th-century US coins from New Jersey, tokens from New York ... and north of the border there's Nova Scotia, too, which essentially means the same thing as New Caledonia :-)
Plus English coins and tokens made in Newcastle ...
50 Toea issued to commemorate the 35th Anniversary of Bank of Papua New Guinea 1973 - 2008
And a bimetallic 2 Kina coin commemorating the same event. Heaviest and biggest bimetallic coin in my collection. :) And for the same reasons, I'm pretty sure it wasn't intended for circulation.
Aditya
PAPUA NEW GUINEA - 1 KINA
The dog teeth and the crocs go very well with your latest avatar, Mackie :) That avatar in turn strongly reminds me of a vice-minister I had to work for... :'(
Peter
Peter,
My avatar reminds me of my CFO, he doesn't smoke at work but he has the same expression on his face all the time. ;D
50 Toea (2007): 50th Anniversary of Saint John Ambulance.
(http://en.numista.com/catalogue/photos/papouasie-nouvelle-guinee/g58.jpg)(http://en.numista.com/catalogue/photos/papouasie-nouvelle-guinee/g57.jpg)
(Image from Numista)
Aditya
For the sake of completeness.
If you look very carefully, you can see why I got this coin for a fraction of its catalogue quote.
Peter
Too small for me to see clearly - please explain! (Does it say "COPY" in small letters somewhere, or has it had a brooch mounting removed? There is something by the NE of NEU that looks odd - solder marks?)
You almost got it. The spot at NE is the counterpart of a small round punch on the throat and lower part of the head of the bird. Once you have seen it, you wonder why you didn't see it before. Take into account that the picture is three times the size of the coin. You hardly notice the damage with the coin in hand, unless you hold it exactly right in the light.
Peter
I had noticed the mark on the reverse but still can't see it on the obverse. Nonetheless it would have commanded a high price in Australia. These are very difficult to obtain unless you have bottomless wallet.
Always hoping! ;D
New Guinea ½d, 1d 1929.jpg
New Guinea, ½d and 1d, 1929. Look at the ornate designs on these old coins.
Does anyone know if the German New Guinea coins actually circulated?
There is a gap in my "bronze penny" collection, namely the 1894 10 pfennig - these are always expensive and top grade - I've never actually seen a worn one offered for sale.
David
Quote from: davidrj on December 26, 2014, 09:00:35 PM
Does anyone know if the German New Guinea coins actually circulated?
There is a gap in my "bronze penny" collection, namely the 1894 10 pfennig - these are always expensive and top grade - I've never actually seen a worn one offered for sale.
David
Gerhard Schön's catalogue prices it in four grades, along with the others, which implies that it did circulate. Presumably any wildlife theme collector seeking the most affordable bird of paradise design would go for a circulated 10 pfennig.
The German New Guinea coins and banknotes are all quite scarce and are keenly sought after by Australian collectors; this keeps the price high. They would only have has a limited circulation as German New Guinea fell to Australian forces following the outbreak of the First World War.
20 years circulation in the tropics should have left some pretty ropey specimens - where are they?
David
Only good examples here,
http://www.ma-shops.co.uk/shops/maCategory.php5?catid=140&catName=German+New+Guinea&lang=en&sortby=preis_eur (http://www.ma-shops.co.uk/shops/maCategory.php5?catid=140&catName=German+New+Guinea&lang=en&sortby=preis_eur)
Plenty of them, but no worn ones....
The bronze coinage was not well accepted. Minted value of the bronze was 20,000 marks with 2000 marks being brought to the colony in 1895. Virtually all the remainder was melted down; 13,000 Marks in 1900 and 3068 Marks in 1904. Australia occupied the German Colonies in September 1914 allowing the coinage to circulate briefly alongside Australian coinage. The currency was to be replaced with Australian coinage by the time the first force left in January 1915. The proclamation was dated March 11 1916 made absolute in 1920 by another.
The German coinage was shipped to Australia. Silver weighing some 106,873,05 ounces of .900 fine silver were refined and converted into Australian coinage in 1921.
So I make this about ten years circulation at most! ???
Thanks Malcolm, useful info
:D
David
I came across some of the German New Guinea coins for sale here (http://www.wynyardcoins.com.au/shop/world-coins/german-new-guinea/)
Warning! no doubt the prices will upset some viewers! ::)
Last week saw Noble Sale 116 (http://www.noble.com.au/auctions/lot?lotno=1311&saleno=116&x=0&y=0) where the 1929 New Guinea specimen penny and halfpenny were on offer.
Lot 1462 penny realised AU$700 and Lot 1463 halfpenny realised AU$600
Note.
Australian Government GST (Goods & Services Tax)
A GST of 10% of the buyer's premium will be added to all accounts. That is with a buyer's premium of 17.5% the buyer will be required to pay an additional 1.75% or a total of 19.25% on the hammer price.
Beautiful old coins. Sounds like a bargain. 8)
Yes they went very cheaply and no doubt many people have said "I wish I had known!"