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New Zealand Half Pennies Half Pennies
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New Zealand
Half Pennies
New Zealand
Half Pennies
1940 to 1965
Half Pennies
Half Pennies
1940 to 1965
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About New Zealand Half Pennies
The nation of New Zealand has a rich history. The islands are the above-water remnants of a continental fragment that is known today as Zealandia. This subcontinent was once attached to the ancient supercontinent Gondwanaland, from which it broke off about 80 million years ago, and became submerged by the ocean within the last 23 million years. The landscape is lush with mountainous peaks and a temperate climate.
The first peoples to reach the islands were the Polynesians sailing westward from the many islands of the Pacific. They are known to have occupied the islands by the fourteenth century and grew and developed the Maori culture. Oral traditions and mitochondrial DNA posits an earlier arrival initiated by a legendary explorer named Kupe with settlers using migratory waka canoes, however the volcanic eruption of Mount Tarawera in 1314 eliminated any possible human artifacts, remains, and archaeological settlements.
