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2010 100 Years of Australian Coinage Silver privymark $1

Instead of taking the portable press to coin events the Royal Australian Mint has opted to pre-strike a silver proof coin for each ANDA (Australian Numismatic Dealers Association) coin show held around the country in 2010.

This coin is a 100 Years of Australian Coinage One dollar struck in 99.99% fine silver proof. Each coin is struck with a special privymark. This particular privymark a letter over a kangaroo inside a square -seen below is an S and M over a kangaroo inside a square. Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne and Perth, S, B, M and P privymarked coins have been released so far at each event. Mintage is 2,000 coins per show.

Closeup of the S privymark from the Sydney ANDA Show

Closeup of the M privymark from the Melbourne ANDA Show

Last weekend was the Sydney ANDA Coin and Banknote Show at the Royal Randwick racecourse in Sydney (Saturday 14th and Sunday 15th of August). We usually give readers fly on the wall details about the going on at these shows (including the previous Melbourne show) but this, our first trip to the Sydney show was a fleeting one.

Randwick racecourse was easy to find with help from the GPS. We drove up the Sydney on Friday which allowed us to stay in the city and visit some coin shops in the city that we knew wouldn't be attending the show. The show opened at 10am the next day and we arrived about 10 past hoping to avoid a wait in line. Getting in was quick and easy with security and entrance officials lovely and polite and friendly.

Similar to Melbourne, the Sydney venue is a function room/bar used for racing events. A vast expanse of light coming through the windows with plenty of room for the dealers tables it was a comfortable venue for the event.

Many well known dealers had their usual tables including Waterman's Coins, Prospect Stamps and Coins, Downies, Sterling and Currency, VP Coins, Monetarium Adelaide, Rare Coin Co, John Eccles, Klaus Ford Numismatics, Edlins, JPW Coins, IAG and International Numismatics just to rattle off a few.

A few less often seen dealers of note were Drake Sterling, Ye Olde Coin Co and At the Toss of a Coin.

A notable absence was Renniks so those hoping to stock up on supplies headed on over to the At the Toss of a Coin table which was selling our own The Purple Penny Coin accessories. We helped Gerry McGinley at this table for most of the day on Saturday chatting to visitors and catching up with coin friends and online customers.

Saturday was very busy with hardly a chair to be had to sit down and browse dealers tables until after about 2pm when it quietened off a bit. Some dealers made a lot of sales whilst for others the whole event was a bit slow. The fees to have a table at the show are quite high and it can be very difficult for smaller dealers to simply make costs at these ANDA shows. By 4:30 the day was well and truly over (doors didn't close until 6pm) and some delaers went next door for a bit of a punt on a horse race. We were, after all, at the racecourse! A win on the horses was enough for some dealers to cover costs that weren't made from sales.

The Perth Mint and The Royal Australian Mint were in attendance and both were selling special show issues. When I asked the RAM assistant if the show special was the S over kangaroo privy mark silver proof dollar I got a blank look and he proceeded to open up the coin box to see. I managed to teach him about his own product that he was selling!

As with the other shows this year ANDA provided guest speakers including Rob Jackman (Rare Coin Co), Andrew Crellin (Sterling and Currency), Bron Suchecki (The Perth Mint) and Mark Van de Slys (CEO of Bullionmark) discussing investing and trading for wealth. One might have to put some thought into speaking at the next show about Collecting for Fun and the enjoyment of coins without breaking the budget.

We're sorry that we cannot comment on day two of the show as we had other commitments and a long drive hime. Overall a fun time was had with a few bargains found and purchased.

2010 100 Years of Australian Coinage Made to Order Coin

Each year the Royal Australian Mint releases a coin with a mintage decided completely by consumer demand. The coin must be ordered beforehand and only those coins ordered will be minted. This was previously known as the "Subscription coin" for the year but this year was remamed to the "Made to Order Coin". This name change was to reduce customer confusion over the details of the coins' production. Customers needed to order and pay for the coin upfront before it was struck in the numbers only for those who pre-ordered.

This years Made to Order coin celebrates the Centenary of Australian coinage with a total mintage of 4,975 coins. It is a 99.9% fine silver 40mm proof coin with an Australian legal tender value of one dollar. Issue price was $75.

The design was developed in collaboration with the Queensland branch of the Australian Numismatic Society and Royal Australian Mint designer Wojciech Pietranik. It features replications of the first four coin designs, the threepence, sixpence, shilling and florin first minted in 1910.

The obverse features both the current effigy of Queen Elizabeth II by Ian Rank-Broadley and the original effigy of Edward VII by George W de Saules. The reverse of the Made to Order coin features the Australian Coat of Arms by W H J Blakemore shown on all the first Commonwealth silver coins from 1910.

This coin celebrates those designs originally depicted on our commonwealth coinage different to the other $1 coin released by the RAM this year depicting all four monarchs in profile that have appeared on our coins.

Have you evern wondered how our new coinage is distributed after it is manufactured at the Royal Australian Mint in Canberra? How does it end up in your purse or wallet?

Newly struck brilliant uncirculated coins leave the presses and accumulate into 44 gallon drums. These drums are manoevered through the mint facility by AGV's (automated guided vehicles) which make light work of coin handling. This is the end of the Mint's involvement with the new circulating coins, they are shipped off in these 44 gallon drums to security companies such as Armaguard.

At the security companies these new coins are loaded into a huge coin hopper. Depending on what denomination is being processed up to 4 of these 44 gallon drums may fit into these huge hoppers. This hopper then trickle feeds the new coins into 6 coin batchers that counts out the specified amounts and then drop them into a small satchel bagger. The small bags drop out the bottom onto an elevator which runs onto a conveyor into a big bagger. The big bagger seals the larger bag of multiple small bags and sends it to the check weigher. These bagged coins will then be opened up and manually counted to check the quantities are accurate. Any weight difference can then be allowed for, or the check weigher adjusted to the accurate weight for this batch of coins. These big bags are then dumped into big bins. This process can produce 300 bigger bags of 25 smaller bags ($100 x 20c bags) in an hour. The majority of new coins are processed this way into sachets. Companies such as Woolworths and Big W require their change to be delivered in sachets and not into rolls anymore. Coles have systems in place favouring rolled coin. So what happens next? Armaguard, Brinks or other security carriers delivers the new coin to their clients such as supermarkets and banks in manageable weights.

$2 = $50
$1 = $20
50c = $10
20c = $4
10c = $4
5c = $2

And what happens to those empty 44 gallon drums now? Well just in case you're interested some are sold to a bio-fuel company to collect waste cooking oil at the back of restaurants and takeaways!

2010 20c PNC Centenary of the Australian Tax Office

What we now know as the ATO the Australian Tax Office was formed in 1910 beginning as the Land and Tax Office in the Commonwealth Treasury. This department was initially established to fund invalid and old age pensions. 100 years later we reflect on it's achievements with a comemmorative 20c issued by the Royal Australian Mint. The centenary officially occurs on November 11th but with respect to Remembrance Day celebrations will take place on November 12th 2010. A program of events continues throughout 2010 including a book release and also the recognition of Women in the ATO on International Women's Day in March 2010.

Approximately 5 million 20c piece will be released into circulation so expect to find one of these in your change soon. The reverse design "Working for all Australians 100 The Australian Tax Office Centenary 2010 20 cents" was designed in collaboration with the Australian Tax Office and the Royal Australian Mint designers. The obverse is the standard Ian Rank-Broadley portrait of Queen Elizabeth II.

The PNC released by Australia Post is just one release in a series of stamps and first day covers. It features one 60c stamp postmarked in Canberra 2600 on the date of issue July 27th 2010. This PNC is limited to 15,000 and each cover is uniquely numbered. Released for $19.95 this issue will be highly sought.

2010 20c PNC Centenary of the Australian Tax Office -insert

Fromelles PNC

Released on July 19th 2010 by Australia Post (in partnership with the Royal Australian Mint and the Australian Fromelles Project Group) this PNC features a comemmorative 20c remembering the lost soldiers of Fromelles. The PNC also features a 60c stamp alongside a picture of the statue of the "Cobbers" that the coin also depicts. Postmarked 19th July 2010, the 94th anniversary of the battle this PNC was released for $14.95. The last unknown soldier was buried at the new Fromelles (Pleasant Wood) Cemetary in a dedicated ceremony on that 94th anniversary.

Fromelles PNC insert

As published in the Australasian Coin and Banknote Magazine August 2010.

Written by the www.australian-thereepence.com/blog team with thanks to John Mulhall for getting it to print!

Lot 401 in Downies Auction 303 held in November 2009 was a double struck 2008 $2 error coin. The lot realised $1550 (plus buyers premium) and was in lovely almost uncirculated condition with the second strike overlaying the first by about 40%. As keen followers of the decimal error market this coin was the first double struck $2 that had become available in at least the last 5 years. We found the error to be remarkable given the scarcity of $2 coin errors, which we've found to be the least common error coin among all denominations in the decimal series. The reason for this isn't really known but possibly the answer lies in the lower mintages of the $2 coin.

To our surprise early this year another double struck 2008 $2 coin appeared on eBay being sold by a coin dealer from Sydney. That coin, graded as extremely fine or perhaps a little better sold for $865. An image of this coin can be seen in Figure 1. This coin was followed just a couple of weeks later by another 2008 double struck coin being sold by a well known Sydney dealer via mail order for $1000. We quickly contacted the dealer interested in purchasing the coin but it had sold in a very short time frame. So interestingly 3 of these double struck coins had appeared on the market in just 4 months!

Fast forward to March 2010 and yet another double struck $2 coin appeared on eBay being sold by the same seller as the first eBay coin. However, this one was a 2009 coin, had two clear dates of 2009 visible and was yet again graded as EF to AU. See Figure 2 for an image of this coin. This coin sold for just a touch over $800 and appears to be the best example sold to date. A 5th and (to date) final double struck $2 was listed by the same eBay seller/dealer in June 2010, this one was a similar grade to all the others and was a bargain for the purchaser, selling for just $455 (see figure 3).

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

What is a Double Struck Coin?

Double struck coins can take a few different forms, but the most common usually has a second strike that is rotated and off-centre from the first strike by a certain percentage. The double struck $2 coins we've discussed here are all off-centre around 60-70%. They've occurred when a coin is struck and then fails to clear the coining chamber completely before the next strike occurs. This results in a second strike partially obscuring the first. The coin may rotate as it partially exits the press resulting in different parts of the coin design overlaying the first strike. The second strike almost always results in the coin taking on an irregular shape (i.e. no longer round) because it is not constrained by the collar. This would mean that the coin would likely foul coin counting machines and vending machines while still weighing exactly same as a normal coin. From an error collectors point of view double struck coins with two visible dates are the most desirable examples.

Where did the Coins Come From?

We've heard a couple of theories about how these errors reached the collector market. The first is that the coins were 'mint sport' of the type similar to double obverse or double reverse coins minted in the 1970's. According to this theory the coins would have then been spirited from the mint and released onto the market. Upon showing one of the imaged coins to well known numismatists and error experts it was suggested that given the current setup of presses at the RAM and increased security to prevent theft from the mint that this first theory is more or less implausible.

The second (and much more likely theory) is that these errors occurred in the normal production process and were bagged up automatically by the mint's highly automated systems into mint bags before being released to security companies for rolling or bagging and subsequent distribution. We could then postulate that the highly irregular shape of the double struck coins caused them to be rejected by the security companies rolling or counting machines. The errors then somehow escaped the security company and ended up in the hands of a couple of dealers in Sydney. Given that 4 of the 5 coins to date have been sold by Sydney based dealers we can only assume that most of these errors have been sent to security companies in that area.

What Next?

Will any more of these errors appear? Clearly something has changed at the Royal Australian Mint to allow these errors to escape. Whatever has changed, it has only happened in the last year or two as we're aware of no earlier examples than the first two 2008 coins. Perhaps more $2 double strikes will appear and it will be intriguing to see if any other denominations might appear. A double struck $1 coin, for example, would be a holy grail for the authors, two of the keenest decimal error collectors we know!

It's the evening of Sunday 4th of July 2010 and the Melbourne ANDA Coin and Banknote Show for the year concluded at 5pm this afternoon. This year, like last year, the show was held at the Caulfield Racecourse in the members area of the main racecourse grandstand. Starting at 10AM on Saturday we arrived just a few minutes after official opening time and the queue to enter was quite long and it took us at least 10 minutes to enter. Once in, the show appeared to be layed out like last year (in fact some dealers were in the same location). It was quite difficult to actually get a seat at any dealers table because of the crowds of people looking for bargains. Actually the both of us were scratching our heads a little about the early crowd because there wasn't keenly sought limited issue for this show other than the proof 'M' mintmark 100 Years of Australian Coinage silver dollar released by the RAM. However, the corresponding issues at the other ANDA shows this year haven't exactly been super popular so we're pretty sure that wasn't why people were there so early.

The Royal Australian Mint Stand

After a couple of hours catching up with numismatic friends things settled down and we managed to start looking through some dealers stock books and hunting for that elusive bargain or the coin to fill a hole in a particular series we collect. The usual dealers were present at the show, we noted Peter Strich, Edlins, Tony Byrne, Klaus Ford, Prospect Stamps and Coins, Coinsearch.com, The Rare Coin Co., Downies, International Numismatics, VP Coins, and Steele Waterman Coins. Additionally there were a couple of dedicated stamp dealers there and a specialised banknote dealer. Apologies to anyone we've missed out of this list.

The Caulfield venue is a good one, with a snack bar where you can get snacks, drinks, and lunch, it's a little expensive but we found the food to of reasonable quality. There was plenty of space and tables to sit around to just take a break and have a coffee.

There's also enough room in the venue for a small audience to be seated and listen to free seminars which ANDA put on 3 times a day on various topics. Prominent people in the numismatic industry spoke about investing in bullion, gold, trading coins for wealth by Andrew Crellin and investing in rare coins and banknotes by Rob Jackman. We missed the talks (just too much to do and so little time) but given that you could listen in for free if you had a show entry ticket they seemed to be pretty good value (like most free things are!).

We took the time on Saturday to catch up with dealers that we knew and to talk coins, business, and generally have a gossip. We had also pre-arranged some meetings with collector friends including some internet forum members who we finally managed to meet face to face. It was great to be able to spend an hour around a table with fellow enthusiasts show off each others coins, discussing the merits of the coins, wondering how a particular error coin was made, and generally having a great time. Numismatics can be a lonely hobby and this opportunity was a great delight to the two authors and something we'll be trying to do again very soon.

A view of some crowded dealers' tables on day 1 of the show

Overall we felt that for this show the dealers seemed particularly friendly and happy to show us their stock and open up their cabinets for us to view closely which isn't always the case if they feel security might be a problem. But with ANDA hired security prowling the aisles and the tables we weren't aware of any problems arising even if the sign at the door stated anyone could be ejected at any time if their behaviour became unruly.

A particular delight was meeting again with Ian McConnelly, an authority on varieties and error coins who writes regularly for the Australian Coin and Banknote Magazine and has just released the second edition of the Renniks published book "Australian Pre-decimal Coin Varieties" which he kindly autographed for us. Whilst we were at it we got Steele Waterman of Steele Waterman Coins and president of ANDA to autograph the article he wrote for the current CAB magazine (July 2010 issue) about his experiences in the Victoria Police with stories about counterfeit banknotes. And on a roll we bought a copy of Andrew Crellin's "The Colonial Coinage of Australia" and got him to sign that too. We certainly were a pair of signature chasers this weekend!

Returning for the second day on Sunday it was a much quieter event. With still plenty of tables to rummage through and dealers to talk to we're not sure where the last 6 hours of the show actually went. We had our heads in albums, cabinets and boxes of 2x2's. About an hour before the end of the show those dealers who had to travel afar packed up their goodies and headed off. We were done by then, totally coined out.

As always it was a great thrill to attend an ANDA Coin and Banknote show and this one was particularly enjoyable because of the friendly dealers and fellow hobbyists who we managed to catch up with. We'll be making an effort to attend this show again next year and we hop we have just as much fun.

In late May this year PCGS filed a US Federal civil suit against a group of 6 individuals they call 'coin doctors'. I'll write about the suit in a subsequent entry because it should be of interest to any serious coin collector. However, in this entry I thought it would be worth having a look at what coin doctoring actually is, mainly because it's not a term you encounter very often in Australia. In US coin collecting circles it is sadly well known and is beginning to be a real threat to the industry. One very well known US coin expert and dealer has estimated that up to 15% of the PCGS and NGC slabbed pre 1938 coins that pass through his hands have been 'doctored'. Yes, you read that right, these doctored coins have been slabbed by PCGS and NGC. Not deliberately, but because the 'coin doctors' are so skilled at their art that they manage to slip the coins past the graders at these TPG's and get them encapsulated.

So, what is coin doctoring? Well the first thing that springs to my mind is cleaning a coin in a manner to escape detection and thus achieve a higher grade. Another method might be to artificially tone a coin to either give it very attractive colours or to perhaps hide surface defects from the graders eyes. Other methods might be whizzing (tooling down the fields of a coin to remove bag marks and restore lustre), filling holes and bag marks with metal or putty, filing and down and filling edge bumps, or perhaps even chemically treating parts of the coin to frost it and pass the coin off as a proof. However, a quick read of the Civil Suit PCGS filed against the coin doctors shows that coin doctoring has been taken to a much more sophisticated and undetectable level. PCGS defines coin doctoring in a comprehensive manner in the brief, in terms far better than I could ever hope to. Here's what they define it as:

Coin "doctoring" involces the alteration of the appearance of a coin to attempt to increase its value, and may involve, among other things, adding substances to coins (such as, among other things, putty, wax, facial oils, petroleum jelly or varnish); treating coins with chemicals (such as, among other things, potash, sulfur, cyanide, iodine, and bleach); heat treating coins in any way to alter their appearance; re-matting ("skinning") proof gold; "tapping" and "spooning" (ie, physically moving surface metal to hide marks); filing rim nicks; or repairing coins (re-tooling metal)

PCGS go on to describe specific coin doctoring methods used on several coins they've seized that include lasering of coin surfaces and rebuilding of design features using putty or jewelers metal. To give you an idea of how sophisticated these methods are, a big dealer in the USA who knows the six named 'coin doctors' estimates that there are 20 or fewer people in the entire USA who could use the coin doctoring methods PCGS describes in their civil suit.

So, that's coin doctoring. These 'doctors' do it to get a coin into a PCGS or NGC slab, make a quick and obscene profit and move onto the next project. Of course the collector who buys such a coin is left with a dud as the doctoring methods become apparent years down the track as the coin deteriorates and then PCGS or NGC are left to pay for the coin under their guarantee programs. These programs offered by PCGS and NGC will actually buy back a coin at full market value if it is found to be slabbed as a counterfeit or doctored. So you can certainly see the reasons why PCGS is out to get these coin doctors! In the next week or so I'll post a follow up to this article taking a look at the suit that PCGS has filed against the coin doctors.

On Wednesday 2nd June 2010 the Royal Australian Mint announced the appointment of a new Chief Executive Officer for the Mint. Mr Ross MacDiarmid will take up the role as of June 7 2010.

The RAM has been under the reigns of Acting CEO Graham Smith since CEO Janine Murphy fell ill and passed away in September 2009.

The new CEO, formerly termed Mint Controller has been on the Mint Advisory Board for the past 5 years and takes up this position after extensive experience in the private sector. He was previously Chief Executive Officer of Dyesol Australia Pty Ltd, a global leader in solar power technology and was also the Chief Executive of Australian Capital Tourism Corporation with a strong focus on marketing and manufacturing.