Note that the ”I” mintmark on the Australian bronze of WWII means something different that it does on the Australian bronze of WWI (where it marks the coin as a Calcutta product). The reason for minting Australian pennies in India? War. The mints at Perth and at Melbourne had more work than they could manage. Bombay helped with Australia’s bronze coinage and the U.S. mints at Denver and San Francisco helped with Australian silver.
Shipments of these 1943i pennies arrived in an Australia that had survived the existential crisis of 1942, but these coins had plenty to do—Americans and other allies continued to arrive in Australia in large numbers as part of the effort to push back the Japanese.
I remember reading a contemporary account written by an American enlisted man for consumption back home. He said that tram fare in Australia was tuppence, but that military men and women rode for half-price, that is, for a 1-penny piece like this one (of course two half-pennies would also have bought the ride}.
Occasionally, though (reported the soldier), a friendly conductor would let them ride for free, and a penny like this one could be returned to a soldier or sailor’s pocket for other duty.
v.
