1 Penny - George V Kookaburra Pattern - Type 6

In 1919, the Australian government was actively exploring alternatives to the bronze penny inherited from British practice, with kookaburra designs among several competing proposals for a distinctly national coinage. This Type 6 pattern is one of a small series of trial pieces struck in copper-nickel rather than the bronze that would have been expected for a circulation penny — the alloy change itself suggesting the committee was reconsidering both aesthetics and material simultaneously. None of the kookaburra patterns were adopted; Australia continued striking the familiar bronze penny through 1964.