James Berry (artist)

Reginald George James Berry OBE ( born June 20, 1906 in London, Dulwich, England, † November 6, 1979 in Auckland, New Zealand) was a New Zealand artist for the design of coins, medals and stamps.

Life

Reginald George James Berry was born on June 20, 1906 in Dulwich, a suburb of London. Berry visited the Russell Hill School from 1913 to 1922 and worked in a London insurance company as an office worker. In 1924 he decided to emigrate to New Zealand, where he arrived in Wellington on 18 February 1925. Berry first worked for a year on a farm near Gisborne, then to a slaughterhouse. He returned to Wellington and got a job in an advertising agency.

Since 1932, Berry competed in competitions for the design of stamps and in 1933 was successful with the design for the health commemoratives. 1934 Berry was invited to design the Waitangi Crown and was admitted to the Royal Numismatic Society. He was a lifetime member of this society, at times as the Secretary, President and Vice - President. In 1944, Berry became self-employed and designed next book illustrations, stamps, coins and medals. He became an officer of the Order of the British Empire in 1968. Berry died on November 6, 1979 in Auckland.

Work

Berry drew hundreds of Stamps, coins and medals. The focus of his work was for the countries of New Zealand, the Pacific Islands and Australia, but also for the United States, England and Ireland. One of his most important works is his first Münzentwurf, the rare and popular Waitangi Crown 1935 (KM 6). On this coin, is chief Tamati Waka Nene Māori and Captain William Hobson, the first Governor of New Zealand rich, under the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840 the hand.