May 14, 2012
1963 Sixpence with strong reverse die clash
Die clash occurs when the dies strike together when a blank is not loaded in the press and one die damages the opposing die. This damage to the die face appears as outlines of the opposing sides design appearing on the die. The coins then struck will have elements of the design of the opposing side appearing with it's own design.
We see here a superb gem uncirculated Australian sixpence from 1963 recently removed from a mint roll. It's spectacular because the reverse features a clear outline of Elizabeth II around the shield between the kangaroo and the emu. It's a mirror image of the outline of the portrait design seen on the obverse. In a heavier die clash, the clashed design will appear "stepped" with a clear difference in height on the coin surface.
1963 Sixpence Reverse
Posted by harrisk at 11:38 AM
May 11, 2012
Melbourne motorists heading home from work last night got a surprising shower. It wasn't rain or hail or rocks from roadworks but $50 and $100 notes! The falling cash dubbed a "shower of confetti" to the tune of $22,000 spilled near the Calder Freeway in the city's north east and as yet none of the money has been turned into police. One passer by collected $8,400 and another $12,000 suggesting "the bottom ends fallen out of an armed car". It is believed to have been stolen from a local business and police are investigating. Police urge those who may have pocketed the windfall that it is a criminal offense to possess stolen property.
Posted by harrisk at 7:39 PM
May 10, 2012
2012 Coloured Sumatran Tiger $1
The Sumatran Tiger dollar is released by the Royal Australian Mint as part of the Animals of the Zoo series. The series features 6 coins all depicting rare and endangered animals residing at the zoo, this coin is in the second release. The series celebrates the 150th anniversary of the Melbourne Zoo, Australia's oldest zoo. The Melbourne Zoo is home to five of these critically endangered species that grow 20 times larger than the household cat! They are native to the Indonesian Island of Sumatra.
The Animals of the Zoo series follows on from the very popular Ocean, Land and Air series released by the Mint in previous years. These 25mm dollar coins have a frosted uncirculated finish, this one with a sculpted tiger design which is then overlaid with colour in the pad-printing process. The design is by the RAM's Aaron Baggio. This 2012 dated one dollar weighs 9 grams and is minted on an aluminium bronze burnished blank planchet. The obverse features the standard Ian Rank-Broadley portrait of Queen Elizabeth II.
Issued in a capsule snapped into a collector card for $15, for up to date mintage figures see the 2012 One Dollar Issues and Mintages Table.
Posted by harrisk at 12:54 PM
2012 Coloured Southern Corroboree Frog $1
The Royal Australian Mints' Animals of the Zoo coloured one dollar series coincides with the 150th anniversary of the Melbourne Zoo, the oldest Australian zoo. The coin depicted above is in the second release of this series showing off the southern corroboree frog. The Melbourne Zoo is home to over 100 of these critically endangered species of frog, just 10% of the entire population known to exist and in decline. They are usually seen inhabiting alpine sphagnum bogs and marshlands in the Kosciusko National Park. Their vibrant yellow and black stripes make them eye catching indeed.
This dollar is one of six coins issued in 2012 in the Animals of the Zoo series which follows on from the very popular Ocean, Land and Air series released by the Mint in previous years. The 25mm dollar coins have a frosted uncirculated finish, this one with a sculpted frog design which is then overlaid with colour in the pad-printing process. The design is by the RAM's Aaron Baggio. This 2012 dated one dollar weighs 9 grams and is minted on an aluminium bronze burnished blank planchet. The obverse features the standard Ian Rank-Broadley portrait of Queen Elizabeth II.
Issued in a capsule snapped into a collector card for $15, for up to date mintage figures see the 2012 One Dollar Issues and Mintages Table.
Posted by harrisk at 12:33 PM
May 4, 2012
Bombing of Australia Impact Zones 50c
Reminding Australia of previous war times when our own shores were under attack from Japanese forces 70 years ago this coin is the Bombing of Australia Impact Zones 50c and is included in the 3 coin set "Shores Under Siege" released by the Royal Australian Mint. It was not available to purchase separately. The design features a map of Australia illustrating the major points of attack on Australian shores. This coin marries with two commemorative 20c released in this 3 coin set.
This 50c reverse is designed by the RAM's Wojciech Pietranik and features his tiny initials below the 1 of 1942. The obverse features the Ian Rank-Broadley effigy of QEII.
Posted by harrisk at 3:07 PM
Bombing of Australia Air Raid Shelter 20c (1 of 2 20c coins)
Remembering 70 years since the start of Japanese air raid attacks on Australia at the beginning of World War II these two 20c coins are part of a 3 coin set released by the Royal Australian Mint titled "Shores Under Seige". Remembering these events reminds us the value of peace and our nations ability to rally together in times of need.
It was 19th February 1942 that Darwin first came under attack from the Japanese bombers destroying parts of the town, harbour, military and civil aerodromes, a hospital and the air force base. These attacks continued until November 1943 and by then Australia had been targeted over 100 times.
The top coin imaged depicts civilians awaiting entry to an air raid shelter whilst the second coin depicts the silhouette of a lone sentry keeping watch of our shores on a gun turret . Both these images have been sculpted to coin by ram designer Aaron Baggio. Both are 20c denomination of the standard size, weight and composition but have been minted for the collector market (NCLT) and have not been issued into circulation. The coins feature the Ian Rank-Broadley portrait of Queen Elizabeth II.
The third coin in this 3 coin set is a commemorative 50c.
Bombing of Australia Lone Sentry 20c (2 of 2 20c coins)
Posted by harrisk at 12:36 PM
May 2, 2012
The second Currency Determination for 2012 for the Royal Australian Mint has been published today giving us insight into (proposed) new designs in the making at the RAM. You can read the determination on the Comlaw website. Of Interest is the 2013 issues with a new design by Wojciech Pietranik.
"A stylised representation of a diamond shaped road sign, including a representation of a kangaroo. The design includes a stylised representation of the Southern Cross in the upper right sector (partially covered by the road sign) and a line drawing of an octagon in the background."
No doubt the silver proof dollar will be on my purchase list but sadly I'll pass on the $3,000 denomination 1kg gold version. At today's gold price, just bullion value alone would see that coin at $51,666! I wonder if such a new kangaroo design would mimic the success of his stunning kangaroo at sunset design.
Posted by harrisk at 5:08 PM
April 22, 2012
1931 Penny Indian Obverse
The 1931 penny was minted with two different obverse die types, the Indian and the London. It's not too often you come across a 1931 penny with the Indian obverse, and it's even rarer (than the 1930 penny) that you'll find one with the Indian obverse and the dropped one London reverse.
This article will help you determine which 1931 penny has the Indian obverse.
The coin seen above has the identifiers for the Indian obverse and also features an aligned 1 meaning it has been paired with the Indian reverse also. The main identifiers for the Indian obverse are:
1. Both colons after IMP point between the rim beads.
2. The last stroke of the N of OMN points at a rim bead.
Posted by harrisk at 2:42 PM
April 20, 2012
Souvenir Tokens and Pressed Penny
What holiday isn't complete without tacky souvenirs! We'd planned our holiday to be mostly coin-free until our last days in Wellington but numismatics always works it's way into anything and everything we do.
Our recent visit to Auckland consisted of much sightseeing, sore feet, expensive restaurants and we've come home decidedly poorer for all this. Upon entering the Auckland Museum I was drawn directly to the press-a-penny machine sitting outside the gift shop just waiting for a $2 coin. This machine was enticing because you turned the handle to make your choice from 4 designs and then turned another handle to press the design into a pre-prepared blank with your own strength. These types of machines had once made use of old pennies but now don shiny new token blanks.
After the excitement of physically pressing my own "Auckland Museum" squashed, elongated, rolled, flattened penny cent souvenir collectable (yes, they have a thousand names and are very popular) I was again excited when a machine was presented to me at the very top of the Sky Tower in Auckland. Standing at 220m above the ground in Sky Deck I put my $2 in the machine. With no fancy mechanical action, out popped my pre-struck souvenir coin.
It's surprising how many of these souvenirs I could have brought home with a machine at nearly every tourist attraction. At $2 each time the excitement was lost after a while. Further south the New Zealand Army Museum brought another opportunity in the foyer with the staff telling me it really cost them more than $2 for the souvenir token itself but the vending machine type operation couldn't function with a higher cost. It was simply one coin in and one souvenir coin out and the $2 is the largest denomination coin.
Posted by harrisk at 8:50 PM
April 16, 2012
Reserve Bank of New Zealand Museum, coin dies and hubs (with the design mirrored)
New Zealand introduced it's own coinage in 1933 based on the British imperial system which began with 50% silver threepence, shilling, florin, half crown and crown. The copper halfpenny and penny were approved later and issued for New Zealand's centenary in 1940. Due to the rising cost of silver, the 50% silver coins were replaced with copper nickel in 1947.
New Zealand adopted decimal coins on July 10th 1967 Decimal Currency Day with the help of the cartoon character "Mr Dollar". The change wasn't as smooth as expected with the birth of a new mule with a New Zealand 2c reverse and Bahama Islands 5c obverse. Also noted were mismatched serial numbers on notes, two notes with the same number and 2c coins that were simply blank. New Zealand removed 1c and 2c coins in 1990 and introduced $1 and $2 coins in 1991. Everyday trading in New Zealand coins is different to Australia and more intuitive in that their $2 coin is larger than the $1. At this time the design on the 20c changed from New Zealand's national bird, the Kiwi to the Maori 'pukaki' carving as the new $1 coin now depicted the Kiwi bird.
2006 brought a "change for the better" with a new size and composition for the 10c, 20c and 50c coins and the removal of the 5c, a change Australia may look forward to in the future. Tenders were sought with the Royal Canadian Mint the obvious choice with a better quality coin product available.The new coins are plated steel, a cost saving measure with an inner core of steel with layers of nickel and copper. The 10c has a copper appearance and the 20c and 50c a nickel outer layer.
The change in 2006 saw an extensive public awareness campaign and after consultation with the blind and visually impaired community the coins went into circulation. The 20c features distinctive edging known as "spanish flower" which has a smooth edge and seven equidistant rounded indents, this helps it to be easily distinguished from the 50c. The changeover period was short, just 3 months for the public to change their older style coinage for the new. The recalled coins all but paying for the new coins minted. Today there is no place for the older, larger non-plated steel coins, they're not even accepted at banks.
Going Decimal Display at the BNZ Banking Museum, Wellington
Decimal Changeover Day Poster July 10th 1967
Posted by harrisk at 12:14 PM
