Australia 1970 Hutt PNC # 13, Silver Proof Medal, 1st Papal Visit to Australia

Description

This is a listing for a
Hutt Commemoratives PNC Number 13
.
This PNC Commemorates the First Papal Visit to Australia on November 30, 1970 by Pope Paul VI.
This is number
157 of only 200
produced.
Item #240
Description of the front of the PNC
:
At the upper right hand side is the AUSTRALIA COOK BICENNENTIAL 1970 30c stamp with date of cancellation, November 30, 1970 at NSW SYDNEY.
The cancellation stamp states, "
PAPAL VISIT 1970 SYDNEY NSW 2000
".
Located at the right bottom is the
Silver Proof Australian Medallion
designed by
James Berry
and struck at the Royal Australian Mint, Canberra, expressly for Pacific Medallion Pty., Ltd., a subsidiary company of Hutt Commemoratives, to commemorate the first visit of Pope Paul VI to Australia.
The obverse is the left side bust of Pope Paul VI with the inscription, "
POPE PAUL VI
", "
AUSTRALIA
", and "
1970
".
The graphics on the entire left side of the cover has a drawing of St. Mary's Cathedral Sydney and the inscription, "
FIRST PAPAL VISIT to
AUSTRALIA
", "
POPE PAUL VI
", "
SYDNEY 1970
", and "
St. MARY'S CATHERDRAL SYDNEY
.".
Lower right hand corner of the cover is, "
Hutt Coin Co. Ltd. C/o G.P.O. Sydney AUSTRALIA
".
Description of the back of the PNC
:
The following inscription is at the top of the cover, "
The silver proof medallion was designed by James Berry and was struck at the Royal Australian Mint, Canberra, Australia, expressly for Pacific Medallions Pty, Ltd. a subsidiary company of Hutt Coin Co. Ltd.
It is the first medallion of a series planned for the future.
The PNC cover design is also by James Berry and depicts St. Marys Cathedral, Sydney, the focal point of the Papal Visit.
During the visit His Holiness Pope Paul celebrated two masses at the Cathedral and also met the Bishops of Australia and Oceania there as well.
"
At the lower right is the identification of the PNC, which states, "
No 157 of 200 Covers
" & "
Hutt PNC No.13
".
At the lower left is the reverse of the Silver Proof Australian Medallion designed by James Berry and struck at the Royal Australian Mint, Canberra. The reverse has the Papal Shield, Australian Shield, Papal Crown, and Australian Map with 1970 on it.
It is also inscribed, "
FIRST PAPAL VISIT
" and "
AUSTRALIA
".
The PNC and Proof Silver Medallion are in Mint condition.
RARITY:
An extremely rare PNC.
Only 200 were produced over 49 years ago.
The Famous Artist, James Reginald Berry who designed the Silver Proof Medallion is deceased.
DATE or YEAR OF PRODUCTION:
1970 (49 years old)
CONDITION:
Excellent Condition.
Perfect, no toning of the Silver Proof Medallion.
Stamps and Cover in perfect condition.
SHIPPING:
Shipping & Insurance within the USA is FREE
.
International Shipping is .00.
PAYMENT:
Payment can be made by PayPal.
Pope Paul VI
(
Latin
:
Paulus PP. VI
;
Italian
:
Paolo VI
), born
Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini
(26 September 1897 – 6 August 1978), reigned as
Pope
of the Catholic Church and
Sovereign
of
Vatican City
from 1963 to 1978. Succeeding
Pope John XXIII
, who had convened the
Second Vatican Council
, he decided to continue it. He fostered improved ecumenical relations with Orthodox, Anglicans and Protestants, which resulted in many historic meetings and agreements.
Montini served in the Vatican's State Department from 1922 to 1954. While in the State Department, Montini and
Domenico Tardini
were considered as the closest and most influential co-workers of
Pope Pius XII
, who named him in 1954 Archbishop of the largest Italian dioceses, Milan, a function which made him automatically Secretary of the Italian Bishops Conference. John XXIII elevated him to the
College of Cardinals
in 1958, and after his death, Montini was considered the favourite successor.
He took on the name Paul, to indicate a renewed worldwide mission to spread the message of Christ. He re-opened the Second Vatican Council, which was automatically closed with the death of John XXIII and gave it priority and direction. After the Council concluded its work, Paul VI took charge of the interpretation and implementation of its mandates, often walking a thin line between the conflicting expectations of various groups within the Roman Catholic Church. The magnitude and depth of the reforms affecting all areas of Church life during his pontificate exceeded similar reform policies of his predecessors and successors.
Paul VI was a Marian devotee, speaking repeatedly to Marian congresses and
mariological
meetings, visiting Marian shrines and issuing three Marian encyclicals. Following his famous predecessor
Ambrose of Milan
, he named Mary to be the
Mother of the Church
during the Vatican Council. Paul VI sought the dialogue with the world, with other Christians, religions, atheism, excluding nobody. He saw himself as a humble servant for a suffering humanity and demanded significant changes of the rich in American and Europe in favour of the poor in the Third World.[
citation needed
]
His positions on
birth control
(see
Humanae Vitae
) and other issues were controversial in Western Europe and North America, but applauded in Eastern and Southern Europe and Latin America. His pontificate took place during sometimes revolutionary changes in the world, student revolts, the
Vietnam War
and other upheavals. Paul VI tried to understand it all but at the same time defend the
Deposit of Faith
as it was entrusted to him. Paul VI died on 6 August 1978, the Feast of the
Transfiguration
. The diocesan process for beatification Paul VI began on 11 May 1993
Berry, Reginald George James
1906 - 1979
Commercial artist, stamp, coin and medal designer, landscape painter
Reginald George James Berry
(known as James) was born on 20 June 1906 in London, England, the second child of James Willie Berry, a clerk, and his wife, Amy Blanche Clarissa Wakefield. After the death of his father in 1911, James was sent to board at Russell Hill School from 1913 until 1922. He won prizes for art and his talent was fostered by an aunt, Lilian Berry, who exhibited at the Royal Academy of Arts. At 16 he became an insurance clerk, but finding the work uncongenial he emigrated to New Zealand on the
Ionic
arriving in February 1925. Subsequently he paid off his assisted passage as a farm cadet in Gisborne. A slight youth, five feet three inches tall, he worked exhausting 12-hour days, and played weekend cricket and tennis.
After two years in Gisborne Berry began working as a commercial artist with the Goldberg Advertising Agency in Wellington. He saved sufficient to buy a section, and to marry Miriel Frances Hewitt, a secretary, at St Jude's Anglican Church, Lyall Bay, on 3 February 1932. They were to have five daughters and one son. In 1932 Berry left the Goldberg Agency and took on freelance work, including the design of advertising layouts for the
New Zealand Radio Record
and
New Zealand Dairy Exporter.
From 1935 until 1942 he was staff artist at the
Dominion
, and during this time produced the popular historical booklet
New Zealand in review
(1940), which went to several editions. He was drafted to Mayer and Kean, engravers, on war work from 1942 until May 1944. Thereafter he was self-employed, designing book covers, illustrations, bookplates and, increasingly, stamps, coins and medals.
Berry's delicate designs were largely created for competitions. His first successful design for a health stamp in 1933 led to a regular commission for this series for 25 years. Further stamp designs were sought by New Zealand, Western Samoa, the Cook Islands, Niue, Tonga, and once by Bermuda. Berry produced nine of the twelve designs for the 1940 centennial stamp issue, and the entire peace issue of 1946. He went on to design the notable series of lighthouse stamps for the Government Insurance Department issues, the first of which appeared in 1947. While they enjoyed popular approval, his designs were described as trite and mundane by some New Zealand critics. However, in 1948 he was described in the American journal
Weekly Philatelic Gossip
as 'the greatest postage stamp designer in the world'.
His first medal design, a commemorative piece for the New Zealand Aero Club, appeared in 1935. The previous year Berry had joined the New Zealand Numismatic Society, which recommended his design for the reverse of their Waitangi-Bledisloe Medal, and for the Waitangi Crown, both of which were issued in 1935. The crown was part of a new series that replaced British coinage in New Zealand.
In 1950 Berry was invited to Tonga to advise on the philatelic commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the Treaty of Friendship with Great Britain, and Queen Salote's birthday. Stimulated by this trip he promptly decided to become a commercial traveller around New Zealand, so that he could pursue his interest in landscape painting, but a massive heart attack in 1962 curtailed these activities. Later, he optimistically embarked on ill-starred ventures such as bookselling, dealing in coins, and speculation in real estate.
In 1964 New Zealand decided to change to decimal currency; designs were invited, and Berry offered four sets, featuring New Zealand flora and fauna. There was overwhelming public support for Berry's designs in a nationwide newspaper poll, and one set was selected in 1966. It was subsequently approved by the Royal Mint and issued in 1967. Berry was sent to the Royal Mint to acquire further skills and this experience was of lasting benefit. Having gained in confidence, he competed for the British decimal designs but was unsuccessful. However, his prestige in New Zealand was such that the
Dominion Sunday Times
declared him to be '1966 Man of the Year', and in 1968 he was appointed an OBE.
In 1978 Berry was made an honorary member of the Royal Philatelic Society of New Zealand. Membership of the New Zealand Ex Libris Society and of the Friends of the Turnbull Library catered for his interests in books, but his first allegiance lay with the Royal Numismatic Society of New Zealand (formerly the New Zealand Numismatic Society), of which he was variously secretary, vice president, president and fellow.
In the late 1960s and early 1970s James Cook's discoveries in the South Pacific were commemorated in stamps, coins, plaques and statues. Berry was called on to produce so many designs that he became an expert on the explorer. From 1971 there were frequent invitations to the Franklin Mint in Pennsylvania and in 1972 one to the Royal Australia Mint in Canberra. The Australian visit resulted in his largest commission: 60 silver-on-gold medallions for the Medallic History of Australia. The task took him over five years, but he found time in 1973 to deliver the Sutherland Lecture to the Royal Numismatic Society of New Zealand in the form of a practical demonstration on 'The art production of coins and medals', and to arrange an exhibition of his work in the National Museum in 1975--76. Berry also received further commissions from Britain: for medallions of Oliver Cromwell and Winston Churchill, from the Cook Islands for additions to its decimal coinage, and from New Zealand for a series of commemorative dollars. He was granted the rare honour of incorporating his version of the Queen's head on four of these dollar coins.
In his last years Berry travelled frequently. He mounted a retrospective exhibition in New Zealand House, London, in 1977; subsequently his landscape painting took him to Ireland, which because of tax concessions to artists was a more attractive domicile than New Zealand. In 1978 he prepared an exhibition of his own landscapes in Dublin, and in 1979 designed his last medal, for the papal visit. He then paid final visits to relatives and friends in England before returning to Auckland. There, on 6 November 1979, he boarded the plane for Wellington, and immediately suffered a fatal heart attack. Three days later a crowded funeral was held in Wellington's Anglican cathedral. He was survived by his wife and children. During his lifetime, Berry completed more than 1,000 designs for stamps, coins and medals. His talents received one final accolade: the gold medal of the Accademia Italiana dell'Arte e del Lavoro in 1980.