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

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.

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.

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.

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)

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

A holiday to New Zealand wasn't complete without some numismatic enlightenment in the form of a trip to the Reserve Bank Museum in the country's capital of Wellington. Now New Zealand doesn't have it's own mint so all currency is handled (since 1989) by their Reserve Bank. Polymer notes are printed in Melbourne, Australia and current circulating coins are produced at the Royal Canadian Mint.

The museum has displays of all manner of numismatic material. Examples of old paper notes, pre-decimal coins, early decimal coins including the famous 1967 Bahamas Mule and explanation of the new coins and when and how the changes to these new coins occured. The museum was well equipped with freebies including lollipops, pamphlets, posters and we even took home some shreddings of polymer notes! The museum gave us the insight into New Zealand coins and notes that is unobtainable elsewhere with very few coin shops to mention and new releases sourced only through New Zealand Post. Staff at the Reserve Bank Museum were friendly and very accommodating.

Coins, dies, blanks and scissel (the leftover of the sheet metal after the blanks are punched out)

Queen Elizabeth II celebrates in 2012 sixty years since her accession to the throne in 1952. We've celebrated her silver jubilee in 1977 with a circulation 50c release and again for HM's Golden Jubilee in 2003 with a special aluminium bronze commemorative 50c and now this stunning design by our favourite Stuart Devlin graces another Aussie legal tender coin. The reverse design features St Edwards Crown worn by her majesty during her coronation ceremony. Added is also diamonds and fireworks fitting for such a milestone.

This design is issued by the Royal Australian Mint in uncirculated copper-nickel (seen above) and silver proof. The obverse is the mature portrait of QEII by Ian Rank-Broadley. The uncirculated coin minted as NCLT (not for circulation) in a collector card is issued at $9.

The Museum of Australian Currency Notes is located within the Reserve Bank of Australia at Martin Place in Sydney. It is a fascinating display of the history of Australia's currency notes with some stunning examples of rare notes, note designs and banking ephemera which the public can view free of charge.

The museum has an area dedicated to the changeover from pre-decimal to decimal currency in 1966. In 1963 the Australian dollar was proposed to be called the "Royal" before public opinion decided on the dollar as the new Australian unit of currency. Other proposed units were the Roo, Digger, Kwid or Dinkum. Sketches for notes in the "Royal" unit were made and these are displayed at the museum.

Dollar Bill, the cartoon character born for the changeover explained decimal currency to the general public and businesses and he adorns original posters and brochures within the displays at the museum. The Reserve Bank of Australia Museum is well worth a visit if you're travelling through Sydney.

• Display the date and time of the last bullion and value update for the calculator.
• Allow you to export the calculator values directly to a CSV file which can then be opened in a spreadsheet program like Microsoft Excel.
• Allow you to generate a PDF file showing the calculator values which can then be printed and stored with your silver bullion.
]]> tag:www.australian-threepence.com,2012:/blog//5.1180 2012-03-15T23:50:29Z 2012-03-16T00:04:39Z
Silver coins are typically traded for their bullion precious metal content often higher than their legal tender value. World junk silver coins can be worth more as silver bullion or for their melt value than as collector coin value. Coins...
harrisk Silver coins are typically traded for their bullion precious metal content often higher than their legal tender value. World junk silver coins can be worth more as silver bullion or for their melt value than as collector coin value. Coins of different years and denoinations of many contries are traded by collectors of bullion and silver. A hobby of coin collectors can be to gather junk bullion coins and wait until the market peaks to cash in on the stronger silver price or a fluctuating currency exchange rate.

Coins of different years, denominations and country vary greatly in fineness and weight so any easy method for actual silver weight conversion is needed. The Australian Coin Collecting Blog has proudly produced a number of these bullion calculators to easily determine and add up the silver content and value of your silver hoard. Easily add new coins, numbers of coins or change the currency each is displayed in. Melt values are determined from the latest spot price directly from Kitco.

We've seen auction houses use these calculators to help buyers determine the value of bulk lots for sale. Add up the value of your Australian pre-decimal junk silver box, print the page and you have a list of today's value of your silver stash. There is a different calculator for each country and even a gold calculator. We've also produced junk scrap calculators for items that can be simply weighed, enter the fineness and, as if by magic, the value of your junk silver is displayed. This may be a silver spoon, broken silver chain or Grandma's silver goblet!

Australian Silver Coin Value Calculator

United States Silver Coin Value Calculator

Great Britain Silver Coin Value Calculator

Canadian Silver Coin Value Calculator

Mexico Silver Coin Value Calculator

Switzerland Silver Coin Value Calculator

Austrian Silver Coin Value Calculator

Panama Silver Coin Value Calculator

New Zealand Silver Coin Value Calculator

World Gold Coin Value Calculator

Scrap Gold Value Calculator

Scrap Silver Value Calculator

]]>