1844 1/2 Crown (Victoria, Young Head)

Sailing from Port Chalmers, Dunedin at 5 pm on 29 April 1881, the Tararua was en route to Melbourne via Bluff and Hobart. Steering by land on a dark night, with clear skies overhead but a haze over the land, the captain turned the ship west at 4 am believing they had cleared the southernmost point. After breakers were heard at 4:25 am, they steered away to the southwest for 20 minutes before heading west again. At around 5 am, the ship struck the Otara Reef, which runs 8 miles out from Waipapa Point.

Due to the heavy surf, the vast majority of her passengers and crew were stuck aboard the slowly sinking ship. It wouldn't be until 5 pm that a rescue effort was launched. Twenty hours after striking the reef, the Tararua sank. The vast majority of fatalities - 131 out of 151 aboard - were due to drowning when passengers attempted to swim ashore.

This 1844 Great Britain 1/2 Crown of Victoria is a salvaged survivor of that disaster - certified by NGC and pedigreed to the S.S. Tararua within The Knapton Collection.