Recently in Coin News Category

Following on from our previous article about an exciting find in change we have some more information to add about how this coin has come about.

As per the RAM press release dated 11 November 2008 the Royal Australian Mint buys coin blanks from a South Korean company Poonsang. This company won the tender to produce the blanks for the Australian Mint.

From the Poongsan annual report 2008

Over the past forty-one years, Poongsan has earned a reputation as a trusted supplierof coin blanks to the global market. The company was designated as the Republic of Korea's sole coin blank manufacturer by the Korea Minting and Security PrintingCorporation in 1970. Poongsan first exported coin blanks to Taiwan in 1973, and sincethen has supplied its coin blanks to over 60 countries on 6 continents. As a recognizedparticipant in the production of Euro coins, Poongsan not only continues to supply coinblanks to the EU market but also has, in collaboration with major European Mints,expanded to include Slovenian Euro coin blanks in 2006 and Cyprus Euro coin blanks in2007. Additionally, in 2008, Poongsan continued its global market expansion with salesto Brunei, Chile and Venezuela. Today, 36 years after its first export, Poongsan is theworld's largest coin blank manufacturer, accounting for more than half of the world'scoin blank trade volume.Poongsan casts over 50 different types of coin blank materials - from brass, nickel sil-ver, cupronickel, and aluminum bronze to other special copper alloys. In recent years,Poongsan has concentrated on meeting the global demand for bi-metal, clad metal andnordic coin blanks. Poongsan has also expanded its coin blank production to includestainless steel coin blank

Points to note from the quote above:

• Poongsan produces blanks that are sold to Venezuela


• Poongsan produces bi-metal blanks

Therefore it is not impossible that a rogue bi-metal blank intended for Venezuela snuck into the drum of blanks destined for Australia. These bi-metal blanks supplied by Poongsan for the Venezuelan 1 Bolivar coin come with the edge lettering applied at manufacture in the Poongsan facility in South Korea.

Coin blanks are imported by the Royal Australian Mint in huge 44 gallon drums pre cut ready to be fed straight into the presses. These huge drums of blanks are moved around the mint by the "Titan" robot seen here (I'm trying to paint a picture in your head). Factories overseas process strips of metal and cut out the coin blanks for many countries right around the world, with some companies producing blanks for more than one country.

Fast forward now to newly pressed one dollar coins leaving the RAM in bags to the Armaguard facility to be rolled into manageable $20 lots before distribution to banks and major retailers Australia wide. A particular mob of roos one dollar is packaged into a roll destined for a Woolworths supermarket. The checkout chick cracks that roll and the shiny new loose dollars are in the till ready to be given out as change. One very lucky lady is given one of these dollars in her change and gives this coin a second look as she leaves the supermarket. When she gets home she has a third look at her coin which looks just a bit different to all the other mob of roos dollars she has seen before.

This lucky lady has just won the lottery, she just doesn't quite know it yet. Those in coin coin collecting circles would gasp at what this coin is.... shall I share?

This 2009 mob of roos one dollar coin has spectacular eye appeal, it looks to have been struck on a foreign bi-metal planchet! Now the chances of a foreign blank of distinguishable difference getting into the drum of blanks, being struck -being the right size to be struck, passing the mint's strict quality controls, passing through Armaguard's hands, gone unnoticed by the checkout chick and into the hands of it's lucky new owner, are pretty slim.

This dollar has a stainless steel inner core and a aluminium bronze outer ring not seen on any other Australian coins that I know of. There have been releases here of bi-metal coins with an aluminium-bronze core and a stainless outer ring but not vice versa.

The other interesting thing about this coin is it has what appears to be some edge lettering "BCV1", now this actually stands for Banco Central De Venezuela. A coin from Venezuela! A 1 Bolivar to be exact, a bi-metal coin of 24mm weighing 8.1 grams. These facts are yet to be confirmed with the actual coin in hand but it's pretty certain from the images that this mob of roos dollar could have been struck this well (slightly weak on the edge reeding) on a bi-metal 1 Bolivar slightly undersized blank from Venezuela.

What a magnificent piece to add to your collection, now the next question, a coin given in change for $1 -what is it worth? I expect anywhere from $1,000+ but this is a one off magnificent piece how much do you think?

2009 One Dollar given in change at Woolworths supermarket

Edge Lettering

See 2009 Australian Mob of Roos Dollar Struck on Bi-Metal Planchet follow up entry for new information as it comes to light.

An exhibition currently on display at the Royal Australian Mint is "Striking Art: Lasting Impressions"- the works of in-house coin designer, artist and sculptor Wojciech Pietranik. For a limited time mint visitors get the chance to view a display of Wojciechs' work over his career spanning more than 20 years at the RAM. This display is well worth a visit and will be shown until February 14th 2010.

In a rare opportunity for collectors, numismatists and art guru's, Wojciech gave a talk at the Mint on Saturday 30th January about his inspirations and experiences in coin and medal design and working for the Royal Australian Mint.

Striking Art Lasting impressions Speech by Wojciech Pietranik 30 Jan at the RAM

Wojciech Pietranik (pronounced Voy-check Pea-yet-traaa-nik) was born in 1950 and grew up in the coastal city of Gdansk, Poland. From the age of 20 he studied at the Academy of Fne Arts graduating with a Masters Degree in Sculpture.

He worked freelance between 1975 and 1985 and exhibited his work in Poland and internationally as his skills in sculpture and design grew. 1985 saw him migrate to Australia to teach in Darwin but the family moved on 3 years later to the cooler climate of Canberra.

At his wife's urging Wojciech took on a job at the Royal Australian Mint in 1989. Under the guiding hand of Senior Designer Horst Hahne, Wojciech developed his skills from artist and sculptor to coin engraver. This brought forward aspects of his degree in sculpture and allowed his artistic abilities to shine through the design of a coin or medal.

During his speech Wojciech likened coin artistry to "the bubble on a pancake", that is the design is simply on the surface of the coin. What he hopes to achieve in his own designs is depth and thought and meanings into every coin or medal; not simply just the bubble on the pancake. For every task he is given by his employer Wojciech takes stock and researches every facet of the theme. Before the age of Google he went to libraries and scoured books looking at history, heritage, studying events, Australian animals and culture. With this research in hand Wojciechs' designs depict events through pictures and not words. It's his own point of view leaping at you from the coin or medal.

Just as an example, one of Wojciech's proudest achievements is the Kangaroo at Sunset coin series. Inspiration for this particular coin design was taken from the drive home after work, with kangaroos by the side of the road casting long shadows from the low late afternoon sun .

Other examples of his designs include:
2010 Burke and Wills 20c & $1 coin
2009 Citizenship $1 coin
2008 Quarantine $1 coin
2007 Sydney Harbour bridge $5 coin
2005 World War 2 Remembrance 50c for general circulation
2005 Dancing Man $1 coin for general circulation

Just a small selection of his work outlined above, his designs are really too numerous to list. The RAM exhibition displays each coin design encapsulated and shown in frames hung on the walls from the ceiling. Wojciech mentioned one of the visitors had asked that his work be enlarged for ease of viewing in the displays -coins are so small. Of course this is not possible. The exhibition also includes some of Wojciechs' stone carving work

All of the latter coin issues show Wojciech's signature initials as his design mark on his coins. There were discussions at the RAM a few years ago as the designers wanted their individual designs recognised (at the time they were only sporadically allowed to do so). The designers won the argument and those initials are now included on most Australian coin designs.

Often he considers himself "the rebellious type" as he tries to bring his artistic ideas and background in sculpture to his coin designs. When given a design task Wojciech will take all considerations on board but the artistic merits and values he brings to his coin design take precedence. He will fight for the features of his designs even if they aren't in the "design specs". That's the artist in the man.

In the leadup to the 2000 Olympics Wojciech worked on medal projects outside of the Royal Australian Mint. He produced these designs, not from paper sketches but by etching straight into plaster in the shed at his home. "It was a big big pleasure to be involved in these projects". His designs were chosen and appear on the gold, silver and bronze medals awarded to athletes.

Medal design for 2000 Olympics

Wojciech wants his coin and medal designs to be works of art in pictures and he's so very proud of his achievements. His designs will certainly leave "lasting impressions" in the history of coin design in Australia. Whilst not a retirement speech Wojciech would like to continue in the future to sculpt in stone, as he has made magnificent pieces in the past.

On a personal note it was a huge pleasure to be invited to the RAM to attend this event. I gained a lot out of Wojciech's speech and individual discussions he had with myself and others who asked questions. Thank you, Wojciech you were a pleasure to listen to.

I have been dwelling on this all week and I'd like to candidly write (that is what blogs are for) about my experience in the queue to mint the first dollar coin for 2010.

When all the keen collectors entered the Royal Australian Mint punctually at 10am, New Years Day 2010, quite a few collectors donned their white cotton gloves in preparation for striking their coins. I had forgotten my gloves but had stopped at the supermarket on the previous day and picked up a packet. There were 4 gloves in the packet and 2 friends I had gained in the queue who had come ill prepared so I gave a glove to each and some money bags I had picked up from the bank. Number one in the queue donned his white gloves, struck his first coin and subsequent coins were put into baggies for later placement in 2x2's. This is how I was going to do it and my friend and I went tag team, me with the gloves and him putting money into the slot. There was a guy a few people back in the queue who asked to use the gloves also so I gave him the last spare glove, he was very very grateful for this.

Helen, the Mint shop manager who was managing the queue saw the white gloves come out and and watched as other people got out tissues to pick up the coin with so as not to touch the coin surface. She dashed off and brought back clean paper towels from the bathroom and money bags from the shop for everyone who was starting to follow the lead from those in front with concern over putting the coin in the folder and how this damages the coin over time. I have to congratulate Helen for seeing the need and responding with a solution showing concern for the well being of the coin and ensuring that they were handled and stored correctly.

This brings me to my ultimate pang. There was a young boy with his Dad who had been waiting in front of me in the queue since about 4am I think. He got to the press to mint his coins and pulled out his 30 pocket pvc coin page and slipped each coin into the slot in the page as he struck the coin. My heart sank. This boy was obviously passionate about collecting and Dad was helping out his son with his interest and they had been waiting for hours to be one of the first to get the new 2010 dollar. To my disappointment these coins are now consigned to a pvc page to die a slow green death and become worth no more than the dollar of face value each holds.

Why do dealers still sell these pages when they know the damage this kind of storage does to coin collections? The only reason I can think of is that it's a cheap storage method. No need for the extra expense of holders or 2x2's, but it's to the detriment of the coin. I feel upset that dealers sell these types of pages simply because they are cheap. The uneducated collector or young collector is going to go for the cheapest option and if they are sold in the coin shops they must be safe for a coin...right? Wrong.

It's time for coin dealers to look beyond the very small profits that they make from selling cheap and harmful coin storage accessories and think about the long term welfare of their customer's collections. The Purple Penny and their archival quality PVC free coin accessories have a small voice in Australian coin collecting circles and some of the larger coin collecting personalities in this country have openly scorned the idea of archival quality coin accessories. I can only think that if these 'numismatists' cared more for the long term health of the coins they sell then the hobby would be a better one for all of us, both new collectors and experienced ones.

Acting RAM CEO Mr Graham Smith was kind enough to speak to us on New Years Day at the mint regarding his future plans. After CEO Janine Murphy fell ill more than a year ago Mr Smith stepped up as the acting CEO of the RAM. Janine's passing in September 2009 has meant that a new more permanent CEO will need to be selected but it seems this is a slow process in the public sector.

We are told that early in the new year steps will be taken to appoint a permanent CEO (formerly known as Mint Controller). Whilst Mr Smith will throw his name into the hat, we got the impression from him that a fresh face would be chosen for the job. Mr Smith was positive about the possibility of continuing on as Deputy CEO at the mint.

Let's hope that as changes are made and new ideas and decisions are brought to the RAM that it only benefits the country, the economic climate and most of all the collectors.

We hope that whatever choice is made for the new CEO that they will be open to input from collectors about issues such as:

• The number and quality of coin issues
• Allocation of low mintage issues like the Kangaroo at Sunset coins
• The RAM and portable press attendance at Coin shows

These are just a few of the problems that collectors see that may well be addressed differently as the RAM moves forward into the new decade.

Each year on the 1st January the Royal Australian Mint swaps the dies on the gallery press machines allowing visitors to strike a newly designed coin for the new year (for 2010 it is the 100 Years of Australian Coinage Dollar). The first 100 visitors to the Mint received a special certificate stating that they were among the fist one hundred visitors to visit the RAM for the new year. Collectors and enthusiasts line up for hours to be first in the queue for a special honour.

Coin collector and dollar fanatic Bruce Mansfield arrived at the Mint at 4:20pm on New Years Eve, pulled out his deck chair and esky and sat at the front of the queue for nearly 30 hours and through a night that must have seemed like an eternity. There was no competition for him until after midnight a few more people slowly joined the queue. The blog team arrived just before 6am and got comfortable at 8th position in the queue.

6:45am queue outside the RAM

From there the queue gained momentum and by 10am the RAM almost had their quota of one hundred waiting patiently. The newly opened coffee facility inside the RAM had been attending to those early morning coffee urges taking money and radioing orders inside where they duly brewed up hot drinks and delivered them to those waiting outside. Visitors were not allowed into the building until 10am and the lack of "pitstops" was obvious.

ABC and WIN (channel 9) news arrived and interviewed Bruce about collecting and his overnight experience and how he had guaranteed 1st place in the queue.

RAM staff handed out numbered raffle tickets just before 10am signifying each person's place in the queue and at 10am the doors opened and everyone hustled inside. A brief speech by acting RAM CEO Graham Smith congratulated Bruce on his achievement and he was presented with a framed certificate to house his newly struck coin.

From left: Helen (Mint Shop Manager), Graham Smith (CEO) and 1st Visitor Bruce Mansfield

Whilst being filmed by the news and with cameras flashing from every direction Bruce then struck the first coin on the gallery press for 2010. He donned his white gloves so as not to mark the coin, fed his $3 into the press and hit the button.

Bruce striking the first coin for 2010

The RAM was surprisingly crowded now and everyone else lined up in their numbered order to press 2 coins on the left hand gallery press and up to 5 coins each on the right hand press. The RAM set these odd limits on the day to reduce crowding and allow everyone their chance to mint a coin. Graham Smith made himself available and was friendly and willing to autograph folders or certificates. It was overall a fun and exciting experience but I won't be getting up so early next year.

Framed Certificate Received by the First Visitor

Thanks to our new friend Belinda for keeping us company in the queue for hours and the other collector/forum friends for some interesting coin discussions in the lineup!

It's that time of year again when Greg McDonald sits back to enjoy a well earned rest after monumental effort in publishing his next edition of the Pocket Guide to Australian Coins and Banknotes. This coin guide is released each year with updated issues and prices of pre-decimal, decimal, proclamation and early Australian coinage issues. It's the most up to date reference of issues right up to current Australian releases by the Royal Australian Mint and The Perth Mint.

Released this week, being distributed to dealers and good book shops as I write this, is the latest edition, the 17th. Most significantly this issue features full colour images of the various releases. Produced in soft cover retailing at $35 just a small price increase from last year this is an ideal reference guide to add to your numismatic book collection.

Thanks to a fellow blog reader and ACBO (Australian coin and banknote online) forum member for a tip on an informative TV show "Postcards Australia" shown on channel nine.
It's quite interesting viewing, a story shown on October 17th 2009 about The Royal Australian Mint and recent refurbishments so I thought it worthy of sharing. Click on the 20c piece in the link to watch the story.

Recently the Royal Australian Mint in Canberra moved it's entire operations.........right next door.
Visitors to the RAM can now experience Australian currency on a whole new level. The mint shop, foyer, display areas and viewing of minting operations is now a vast expanse of open, brand new luxurious space for the public's viewing pleasure.

The blog team squeezed in a fleeting weekend visit to the new Royal Australian Mint this past weekend and managed to snap a couple of pictures to share with you. As it was the weekend there wasn't too much activity.

Below is an image of one of the Mint's new robots. It was moving about as if dancing or rehearsing for something. This may have been to show off to it's audience or a critical recalibrating or testing procedure. It's job that we saw was to lift the large red drums of blanks into the blue hopper. These blanks in the hopper were then fed onto the conveyor belt where they were jiggled about to separate the blanks and remove any debris or loose metal. The blanks were sprayed with an oil type spray to help with this separation. The blanks then fell into the white tubs and transported across to the minting machine area of manufacture. This is all automatic and mint staff just stood around checking that everything was running smoothly. What we didn't manage to capture were other automatic guided vehicles (AGV's) which carried the drums of coins/blanks around the mint floor.

Mint robot lifting drum of blanks

Mint robot emptying blanks into hopper

Blanks head along the conveyor belt

To help you catch up on the continuing story, have a quick read about the pre-release details of the Master Mintmark Dollar. No one was certain what this release was going to be.

Last weekend it all happened. Friday morning the RAM anticipated a crowd of visitors and hired extra security for the event prior to the doors opening at 9am. There had been speculation there would be campers to gain their spot in the queue early on Friday morning. Sadly this wasn't the case and this story unfolds thanks to fellow numismatist, the first RAM attendee to this event Goldseeker. The crowd of few were let loose at 9am who paid their $12 at the till per coin and proceeded to the queue to mint their coin. Obviously due to the short notice to collectors and other numismatic activities last weekend the crowd for the entire event was minimal. Apparently the queue to mint coins was never longer than 10! The counterstamped Master Mintmark coin was available to (press the button yourself) mint for 4 days only at the RAM.

The Counterstamp Mintmark of mention in this post is a confusion in itself. The coin available to press by RAM attendees was a 2009 Mob of Roos one dollar with a special Kangaroo mintmark that consists of a C with a kangaroo hopping through it. That's not the real special bit though. The extra special addition was that of a C counterstamp below the D of dollar on the reverse of the coin. These coins with the counterstamp are proving to be a scarce release with dealer sales already looking at the $30-$50 mark, mintage of these is still unclear.

The master mintmark coin is non-counterstamped version of this. It's a 2009 mob of roos one dollar with a C and a kangaroo hopping through it. This coin will be readily available from the RAM shop, mail order and dealers.
The Master Mintmark Dollar (non-counterstamped version)