GEORGE II. HALFPENNY FOUND AT CHELTENHAM

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 582, 7 February 1929, Page 6

GEORGE 11. HALFPENNY

FOUND AT CHELTENHAM

On Sunday, while strolling along Cheltenham Beach, at the foot of A-rawa Avenue, an employee of the Devonport Borough Council, found a black object in the dry sand. On cleaning it proved to be King George IX halfpenny, dated 1742, and in a splendid state of preservation. The head of the King impressed on the coin is upside down as regards the inscription on the other side. The King’s head shows a wig, complete with ribbons, and the reverse side is inscribed Britannia and shows a female figure sitting on a globe, against which a shield rests. A trident is held in the left hand, while the extended right hand clasps a sprig of a stiff leafed plant.

The same man found a George 111 shilling three years ago, when some road reconstruction was undertaken behind Mt. Victoria. As a lad he also found, while helping soldiers to move soil from Barrack Hill (now Albert Park), a five shilling piece which be mistook for a medal.

A more fortunate find was made when the foundations of what used to ba called Nathan’s Bond, in F%rt Street, were being put in. The had been reclaimed with soil originally from Fort Britomart. A load of spoil from the foundation work was tipped away and a quick-eyed labourer noticed that the remains of a gunny bag held sovereigns. A rapid search found almost a hundred

“Geordies.” They must have come from some secreted hoard on Barrack Hill almost half a century previously.