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Australia
under
George VI –
King:
11 December 1936 – 6 February 1952
1943 D
Silver Sixpence 19.4mm (2.78 grams) 0.925 Silver (0.0836 oz. ASW) Denver mint
Reference: KM# 38 | Obverse Designer: T.H. Paget | Reverse Designer: W.H.J.
Blakemore | Edge: Reeded
GEORGIVS VI D:G:BR:OMN:REX F:D:IND:IMP., Bare head of king George VI left.
SIXPENCE D 1943 around coat-of-arms of Australia.
You are bidding on the exact item pictured,
provided with a Certificate of Authenticity and Lifetime Guarantee of
Authenticity.
available for sale in my storeall coins of AustraliaClick here to see
George
VI
(Albert Frederick Arthur George; 14 December 1895 – 6 February 1952) was
King of the United Kingdom
and the
Dominions
of the
British Commonwealth
from 11 December 1936
until his death. He was the last
Emperor of India
and the first
Head of the Commonwealth
.
As the second son of
King George V
, he was not expected to inherit
the throne and spent his early life in the shadow of his elder brother,
Edward
. He served in the
Royal Navy
and
Royal Air Force
during the
First World War
, and after it took on the usual
round of public engagements. He married
Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon
in 1923 and they had
two daughters,
Elizabeth
and
Margaret
.
George’s elder brother ascended the throne as Edward VIII upon the death of
their father in 1936. However, later that year Edward revealed his desire to
marry the divorced American socialite
Wallis Simpson
. British Prime Minister
Stanley Baldwin
advised Edward that for
political and religious reasons he could not marry a divorced woman and remain
king.
Edward abdicated
in order to marry, and George
ascended the throne as the third monarch of the
House of Windsor
.
During George’s reign the break-up of the
British Empire
and its transition into the
Commonwealth of Nations
accelerated. The
parliament of the
Irish Free State
removed
direct mention of the monarch from
the country’s constitution
on the day of his
accession. Within three years, the Empire and Commonwealth, except the Irish
Free State, was at
war
with
Nazi Germany
. In the next two years, war with
Italy
and
Japan
followed. Though
Britain and its allies
were ultimately
victorious, the United States and the
Soviet Union
rose as pre-eminent
world powers
and the British Empire declined.
After the
independence of India and Pakistan
in 1947,
George remained as king of both countries, but the title Emperor of India
was abandoned in June 1948. Ireland
formally declared itself a republic
and left
the Commonwealth in 1949, and India became a republic within the Commonwealth
the following year. George adopted the new title of Head of the Commonwealth. He
was beset by health problems in the later years of his reign. His elder
daughter, Elizabeth, succeeded him.
 Australia,
officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising the
mainland of the
Australian continent
, the island of
Tasmania
, and numerous
smaller islands
. It is the world’s
sixth-largest country by total area
.
Neighbouring countries include
Indonesia
,
East Timor
and
Papua New Guinea
to the north; the
Solomon Islands
and
Vanuatu
to the north-east; and
New Zealand
to the south-east.
For at least 40,000 years before the first
British settlement
in the late 18th century,
Australia was inhabited by
indigenous Australians
, who spoke languages
grouped into roughly
250 language groups
. After the European
discovery of the continent by
Dutch
explorers in 1606, Australia’s eastern
half was claimed by
Great Britain
in 1770 and initially settled
through
penal transportation
to the colony of
New South Wales
from 26 January 1788. The
population grew steadily in subsequent decades; the continent was explored and
an additional five self-governing
crown colonies
were established.
On 1 January 1901, the six colonies
federated
, forming the Commonwealth of
Australia. Since Federation, Australia has maintained a stable
liberal democratic
political system that
functions as a
federal
parliamentary democracy
and
constitutional monarchy
comprising
six states and several territories
. The
population of 23.6 million[5]
is highly
urbanised
and heavily concentrated in the
eastern states
and on the coast.
Australia is a
developed country
and one of the wealthiest in
the world, with the
world’s 12th-largest economy
. In 2012 Australia
had the world’s
fifth-highest per capita income
. Australia’s
military expenditure is the
world’s 13th-largest
. With the
second-highest human development index globally
,
Australia
ranks highly
in many international comparisons
of national performance, such as quality of life, health, education,
economic freedom
, and the protection of
civil liberties
and political rights. Australia
is a member of the
United Nations
,
G20
,
Commonwealth of Nations
,
ANZUS
,
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
(OECD),
World Trade Organization
,
Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation
, and the
Pacific Islands Forum
.
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