Specimen of the New Zealand Cross

1914

Kind permission of the Otago Museum

Unpublished

The New Zealand Cross was introduced by Governor Sir George Bowen in 1869 during the Land Wars in New Zealand. Only 23 crosses were awarded, with six gazetted in 1869, one in 1870, and the remainder (16) between 1875 and 1910. They are rare, and because of this, a small number (13) of specimens (facsimiles) have been struck, mainly for institutions or medal collectors. One notable medal collector was Colonel Joseph Cowie Nichols, of Dunedin, who had two ‘facsimiles’ struck in 1914. This is one of those ‘facsimiles’, which was once in the collection of D. Hastings Irwin, an English medal collector. It was presented back to the Otago Museum by Colonel Nichols.