1 Shilling - George VI

New Guinea's shilling coinage was struck at the Melbourne and Perth mints under a mandate administration that was already under existential threat. Japanese forces invaded the territory in 1942, and coins dated through 1945 were effectively produced for a government operating in exile — many never reaching the population they nominally served. Surviving examples from the early 1940s often come from hoards rather than circulation, which accounts for the grade disparity commonly seen across the series.

The .925 fineness matches British sterling standard, a deliberate policy choice for a League of Nations mandate territory whose currency credibility depended on metropolitan backing.