1 Penny - George V Kookaburra Pattern - Type 5a

In 1919, the Australian government was actively exploring a domestically produced coinage to replace its reliance on British-struck pennies. Several pattern designs featuring the kookaburra were commissioned and struck in multiple metals and configurations — this silver example being among the more refined survivors of that experimental series. The kookaburra proposal ultimately failed; Australia returned to the familiar regal penny design, and the bird would not appear on circulating coinage for another decade, finally landing on the 1990 bullion dollar.