1933 Half Penny

The 1933 is one of the most common half pennies in the series owing to its high mintage figure of 4.6 million pieces. It is a very common coin in circulated grades and relatively easy to obtain in mint state up to MS64 though grades beyond this will command strong premiums due to their sheer rarity much like other dates of the 1930s. This is due to the rough handling process at the mint causing surface hairlines limiting typical uncirculated examples to MS64. The vast sum of half pennies required in the recovering Australian economy wasn't met without issues. The number of dies on hand was short of what was required to produce the 4 million half pennies requested by the treasury. This problem was overcome by overdating 1932 dies to produce the 1933/2 overdate half penny. A similar technique was used with the penny. The Melbourne mint also produced a proof of record strike in 1933.