The 1949 Royal Visit Crown is the affordable crown of New Zealand — struck for the planned royal visit, with a fern frond and the four stars of the Southern Cross on the reverse. Its six-figure mintage makes it the entry point for crown collectors who can’t reach the Waitangi. This entry covers specs and context.
Key facts
- Issued 1949 as a commemorative crown for the royal visit; reverse shows a fern leaf frond surrounded by the four stars of the Southern Cross (designer James Berry).
- Mintage 200,020 — large versus the Waitangi, and intended as a circulating/collectible commemorative.
- Struck in .500 silver at 28.28 g / 38.74 mm like the Waitangi crown (pre-1947 silver standard).
- It is the second of New Zealand’s three pound-era commemorative crowns (1935, 1949, 1953 coronation).