British Coins Halfpenny 1938 King George VI and Golden Hind
Obverse: Bust of King George VI (Bare bust facing left), with the inscription "GEORGIVS VI D:G:BR:OMN:REX F:D:IND: IMP." around the perimeter (George VI by the grace of God king of all Britain defender of the faith emperor of India). At the bottom of Georges neck are the designer’s initials “MP”.
The obverse was originally designed for use on Edward VIII halfpenny and it is by Sir Thomas Humphrey Pagent.
After 1948 the title of emperor of India (IND:IMP) was no longer used on the Halfpenny because India had became independent country.
Reverse: Sir Francis Drake's flagship "Golden Hind", "HALF PENNY", (date) below. The Britannia design was abandoned in favour of a ship (Golden Hind) design by Sir Thomas Humphrey Pagent.
They were produced during every year from 1937 to 1952.
After 1948 the title of emperor of India (IND:IMP) was no longer used on the Halfpenny because India had became independent country.
Country: United Kingdom.
Years: 1937-1948.
Value: 1/2 Penny.
Metal: Bronze.
Weight: 5.7 grams.
Diameter: 25.5 mm.
Thickness: 1.3 mm.
Shape: Round.
Demonetized: 08-01-1969.
References: KM# 844, Sp# 4115.
British Coins 1937-1952 King George VI
British Halfpenny 1938 King George VI and Golden Hind
Coins of the United Kingdom - The Penny and Halfpenny
Halfpenny 1938 King George VI and Golden Hind
Golden Hind
Golden Hind was an English galleon best known for her privateering circumnavigation of the globe between 1577 and 1580, captained by Sir Francis Drake. She was originally known as Pelican, but was renamed by Drake mid-voyage in 1578, in honour of his patron, Sir Christopher Hatton, whose crest was a golden 'hind' (a female red deer). Hatton was one of the principal sponsors of Drake's world voyage. There are two full size replicas in existence, one in Brixham, Devon, and a second in London
In 1577, Queen Elizabeth partly sponsored Sir Francis Drake as the leader of an expedition intended to pass around South America through the Strait of Magellan and to explore the coast that lay beyond. The queen's support was advantageous; Drake had official approval to benefit himself and the queen as well as to cause the maximum damage to the Spaniards. This would eventually culminate in the Anglo–Spanish War. Before setting sail, Drake met the queen face-to-face for the first time and she said to him, "We would gladly be revenged on the King of Spain for divers injuries that we have received." The explicit object was to "find out places meet to have traffic." Drake, however, acted as a privateer, with unofficial support from Queen Elizabeth.
He set sail in December 1577 with five small ships, manned by 164 men, and reached the Brazilian coast in early 1578. Drake's flagship, Pelican, which he renamed Golden Hind, displaced only about 100 tons.
On 1 March 1579, now in the Pacific Ocean, off the coast of Ecuador, Golden Hind challenged and captured the Spanish galleon Nuestra Señora de la Concepción. This galleon had the largest treasure captured to that date: over 360,000 pesos (equivalent to around £480m in 2017). The six tons of treasure took six days to transship and included 26 tons of silver, half a ton of gold, porcelain, jewellery, coins and jewels.
On 26 September 1580, Francis Drake sailed his ship into Plymouth Harbour with only 56 of the original crew of 80 left aboard, the ship was unloaded at Saltash Castle nearby where the treasure offloading was supervised by the Queens guards. Over half of the proceeds went to the Queen and country and were used to pay off the annual debt in its entirety, Queen Elizabeth I herself went aboard Golden Hind, which was then permanently at Deptford on the Thames Estuary, where she had requested it be placed on permanent display as the first 'museum ship'. There she shrewdly asked the French ambassador to bestow a knighthood on Drake. her share of the treasure came to at least £160,000: "enough to pay off her entire government debt and still have £40,000 left over to invest in a new trading company for the Levant. Her return and that of other investors came to more than £47 for every £1 invested, or a total return of 4700%."
After Drake's circumnavigation, Golden Hind was maintained for public exhibition. The Golden Hind remained there from 1580 to approximately 1650 (some 45 years after Queen Elizabeth had died) before she eventually rotted away and was finally broken up.
A table, known as the cupboard (pronounced "cup-board"), in the Middle Temple Hall (in London) is reputed to have been made from the wood of Golden Hind, as is a chair in the Bodleian Library in Oxford (with a replica in the Great Hall, Buckland Abbey, Devon, Drake's home and now maintained by the National Trust. Upon the cupboard is placed the roll of members of Middle Temple, which new members sign when they are called to the Bar. The ship's lantern was hung in the vestibule of Middle Temple Hall but was destroyed during the Second World War .