This reverse design, originally prepared for the coinage of Edward VIII, was introduced instead as a part of George VI’s coinage of 1937. It was a major break with tradition—Britannia had appeared on the denomination since 1672. But the Golden Hind (or Golden Hinde) of Sir Francis Drake was a solid choice. After all, the 350th anniversary of the 1588 Armada was at hand when this halfpenny design appeared in circulation, and it had been the Spanish silver captured by the Golden Hind that—some years after the ship’s return to Britain in 1580—had eventually helped cause war with the Spain of Phillip II.
But the Golden Hind, and Drake, and the Armada and Spain, and Phillip II—all of this was wonderfully double-edged in the Great Britain of the late-thirties, and certainly few Britons of those days could have failed to recognize it.
Much like the contemporary British film, the prescient 1937 Fire Over England, there could be little doubt that here, in these George VI halfpennies, was ancient history come to life. (As when that movie’s Queen Elizabeth is talking to her soldiers—clearly she is also talking directly to the Britons of the late-1930s.)
By the time this 1940 halfpenny was coined, however, historical allusion had been replaced by a hard and difficult present. By Autumn 1940 Britain was alone, and never Greater.
In the London of 1940 bombs and fire were everyday facts of life. At first, taking shelter in the city’s subways during the Blitz was officially discouraged. But then it was noted that all one had to do was to buy a 1½d “underground” ticket and refuse to leave. (Three of these 1940 halfpennies would have done the trick.)
The Government did a quick about face and used the “tubes” for the built in bomb shelters they were. And maybe the historical allusions alive in this halfpenny were still useful in 1940. I can almost imagine a parent or a grandparent pulling a Golden Hind Halfpenny out of a purse or a pocket, and trying to distract some scared youngster with stories of Great Britain’s past heroics.
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