At the start of May this year the Royal Australian Mint set out to tease collectors offering snippets of information on a new release coin. What was this coin going to be? The only information collectors had was from the inside cover of their Mint Issue brochure. This information read:

"To mark the completion of the mint's historic refurbishment project, we will unveil a new master mintmark coin which will be in use in 2010. This coin will be available to purchase as a shop exclusive from May 2009 for 3 months."

I personally attended the newly refurbished Mint building and new giftshop mid-May only to be fobbed off by ill-informed staff about a delay with this master mintmark issue. Many collector friends of mine through various phone calls and visits themselves were also fobbed off in a similar way.

This left the whole issue up in the air. No one knows what the coin actually is or when it will be available. Speculation followed with rumours being that the coin would be available fom early June, only be able to be purchased from the RAM giftshop and for $9.95. No ideas even on what this "master mintmark" coin would be.

Sketchy details from the RAM then emerged that there had been packaging delays with this special release. Because of this delay the coin would be available from the mint shop and also through their mail order and internet sales system. Information about this would be provided in the July Mint Issue brochure.

Finally after a long wait the RAM issued a press release on Friday 26th June 2009. Make yourself available at the RAM for the special release of the master mintmark coin. Only on July 3rd-6th will this coin be available from the mintshop. On these dates only will the RAM counterstamp the master mintmark coin for visitors.

As per the RAM press release here's what's going to happen. The C counterstamped kangaroo mintmarked mob of roos dollar will be available to purchase after the event from selected dealers. However, it will NOT be available from the mint shop online nor their mail order system. The kangaroo mintmarked mob of roos dollar -the master mintmark coin- (without the C counterstamp) will be available through the mint's ordering system.

Are you confused yet? I certainly am! Until this coin is actually released I don't think anyone can say for certain what it is actually going to be. For the Royal Australian Mint to give collectors 7 days notice to attend a special event to get a coin they desire for their collections is ludicrous. On top of this the RAM hasn't done their homework holding with their event conflicting with both the Melbourne ANDA coin show and Downie's coin auction!

Collectors have certainly been put on a back foot by this with the RAM not making things easy. Personally I am very disappointed that I can't attend such an important event because of such poor planning and ridiculously short notice. Boo to the RAM.

Have you heard the term Exonumia used in relation to coins, notes or something related to that but you don't really know what? I guess it's just another branch of collecting that you can go down if that's where your interest lies.

Exonumia is actually a term which originated in North America. It encompasses all those collectables that fall into the numismatic category but are not coins or banknotes. Exonumia is often something that can be traded or that has a commercial value but is not specific currency.

Examples of this are:
-Gambling Tokens/ Casino Chips
-Vending Machine Tokens
-Transport Tokens
-Badges
-Medals/Medallions
-Tokens
-Love Tokens

Often by accident you might come across something that just has tonnes of appeal to you but isn't specifically a coin or a banknote. This item is termed exonumia.

Born in 1897 Sir Charles Kingsford-Smith was an early Australian aviation pioneer. He is best known in Australia for making the first Pacific crossing from Australia to the USA, setting a speed record from Australian to London of 10.5 days, and for disappearing while attempting to set yet more records. He is an iconic figure in Australian history and his blue Fokker Tri-Motor aircraft, the Southern Cross is equally well known in our popular culture. I am lucky enough to live near to where a replica of this plane is stored and it is not unusual to see the aircraft moving slowly through the sky on fine and calm days with it's engines making a loud rumble. It is an evocative sight and sound which is very unusual in these modern times of jet engines and turbo prop aircraft. Further building his legendary status in our culture Smithy (as he was known) died tragically and mysteriously attempting to set another Australia to London speed record in 1935. The plane and the bodies of Smithy and his co-pilot, Tom Pethybridge were never found and their places in Australian history were cemented forever. In 1997 to celebrate the 100th Anniversary of the birth of Charles Kingsford-Smith the Royal Australian Mint released two different commemorative $1 aluminium bronze coins.

The 'Smithy' dollar was struck with two different reverses. The coin struck for circulation had a larger portrait of Kingsford-Smith over his plane the Southern Cross. The other reverse had a smaller portrait, the Southern Cross again all superimposed over the map of the Earth. The coin with the circulation reverse was struck in AlBr for circulation (24,381,000 mintage) and in strict uncirculated and proof condition for the Mint and Proof sets of 1997. Coins with the larger head reverse were also struck in silver proof standard for Coin and Note set that included a 1997 $20 polymer note. The smaller head reverse was struck for the collector market with C (102,213 mintage), S (50,858 mintage), B (28,616 mintage), A (25,403), and M (27,430 mintage) mintmarks. 13,611 of the smaller head reverse were also struck in silver to proof standards and made available in presentation cases. As is normal the silver proof strikings of the Smithy dollars have the highest CV($70) with the collector aluminium bronze coins having CV's of $20 or so and fairly easily obtained.

The obverse of the coin depicts the Raphael Maklouf portrait of Queen Elizabeth II. The reverse of both types of Smithy dollar are by Wojciech Pietranik. They both depict a portrait of Sir Charles Kingsford Smith wearing a pilots helmet and his Fokker Tri-motor plane, the Southern Cross. The small head (map) coin also shows a map of the Earth tracing his flying route when he flew around the world.

Continuing on with the dollar coin issues from the Royal Australian Mint we have 4 commemorative issues for the years 1996-1998. In 1996 we saw a portrait of Sir Henry Parkes commemorating 100 years since his death. 1997 brought confusion with 2 similar but different issues commemorating the centenary of the birth of Sir Charles Kingsford Smith. The mintmark "Smithy" issue is sometimes called the small portrait type and the "map" issue is sometimes known as the large portrait type. The Mob of Roos dollar was issued in the mint and proof sets and into circulation in 1998. There were no Roos issued in 1996 or 1997. The obverse portrait for all was by Raphael Maklouf, the exception being only the silver proof issue of the Howard Florey dollar being changed to the new portrait of Queen Elizabeth II by Ian Rank-Broadley.

Year	Description	Type	Mint Mark	Composition	Notes	Mintage
1996	Henry Parkes	Circulation	None	AlBr	Circulation	26,200,000
	Henry Parkes	Circulation	C	AlBr	Gallery Press	149,600
	Henry Parkes	Circulation	C	AlBr	Royal Canberra Show	1500
	Henry Parkes	Circulation	C	AlBr	RAM mailing list, dealer sales	101,760
	Henry Parkes	Circulation	S	AlBr	Portable Press Sydney Royal Easter Show	49,964
	Henry Parkes	Circulation	B	AlBr	Portable Press Brisbane Show	30,000
	Henry Parkes	Circulation	A	AlBr	Portable Press Adelaide Show	20,000
	Henry Parkes	Circulation	M	AlBr	Portable Press Melbourne Show	20,110
	Henry Parkes	Circulation	None	AlBr	Gumnut Baby Mint Set	25,727
	Henry Parkes	Circulation	None	AlBr	Mint Set	108,773
	Henry Parkes	Proof	None	AlBr	Proof Set	41,535
	Henry Parkes	Proof	None	AlBr	Gumnut Baby Proof Set	3,985
	Henry Parkes	Proof	None	St. Silver	Silver Proof Interrupted Reeding	20,006
1997	Kingsford Smith (small portrait)	Circulation	C	AlBr	Mint Your Own RAM Visitor Press	102,213
	Kingsford Smith (small portrait)	Circulation	S	AlBr	Portable Press Sydney Royal Easter Show	50,858
	Kingsford Smith (small portrait)	Circulation	B	AlBr	Portable Press Brisbane Agricultural Show	28,616
	Kingsford Smith (small portrait)	Circulation	A	AlBr	Portable Press Adelaide Show	25,403
	Kingsford Smith (small portrait)	Circulation	M	AlBr	Portable Press at Melbourne Show	27,430
	Kingsford Smith (large portrait)	Circulation	None	AlBr	Gumnut Baby Mint Set	27,421
	Kingsford Smith (large portrait)	Circulation	None	AlBr	Mint Set	71,022
	Kingsford Smith (large portrait)	Proof	None	AlBr	Proof Set	32,543
	Kingsford Smith (large portrait)	Proof	None	AlBr	Gumnut Baby Proof Set	3,617
	Kingsford Smith (large portrait)	Circulation	None	AlBr	Circulation	24,381,000
	Kingsford Smith (small portrait)	Proof	None	.999 Silver	Silver Proof Interrupted Reeding	13,611
	Kingsford Smith (large portrait)	Proof	None	.999 Silver	Combined NPA/RAM issue with $20 note	2,480
	Kingsford Smith (small portrait)	Circulation	C	AlBr	Dual Set	50,500
	Kingsford Smith (large portrait)	Circulation	None	AlBr	Dual Set	50,500
1998	Mob of Roos	Circulation	None	AlBr	Circulation	16,200,000
	Howard Florey	Circulation	C	AlBr	Gallery Press	77,035
	Howard Florey	Circulation	S	AlBr	Portable Press Sydney Royal Easter Show	44,080
	Howard Florey	Circulation	B	AlBr	Portable Press Brisbane Show	29,914
	Howard Florey	Circulation	A	AlBr	A mintmark representing Adelaide	21,120
	Howard Florey	Circulation	M	AlBr	Portable Press Melbourne Agricultural Show	21,809
	Mob of Roos	Circulation	None	AlBr	Koala Baby Mint Set	6,704
	Mob of Roos	Circulation	None	AlBr	Mint Set	74,108
	Mob of Roos	Proof	None	AlBr	Proof Set	32,225
	Mob of Roos	Proof	None	AlBr	Koala Baby Proof Set	5,269
	Howard Florey	Proof	None	.999 Silver	Silver Proof Interrupted Reeding	11,644

PVC facts

PVC is short for poly vinyl chloride. It is dangerous in it's basic form and needs lead to stabilize it for production. We know lead is highly toxic during the life of it's product and during disposal. PVC is extremely heat unstable and has been known to decompose during manufacturing. PVC contains approx 30% (by weight) of Chlorine. We know what damage chlorine does to coins and to our environment. To make pvc into usable products it has to be made flexible and softer by the addition of plasticisers. These plasticisers are called phthalates which are known carcinogens -yes, they cause cancer! These plasticisers leach out of the pvc product and onto your coins and into the environment. PVC is non-recyclable due to it's chemical composition. It's all these harmful chemicals and decomposition of the material that make pvc unsuitable for long term coin storage.

Polypropylene (PP) facts

Polypropylene is a neutral plastic containing only 2 elements Carbon and Hydrogen. Polypropylene doesn't use any dangerous chemicals in it's production. Polypropylene sheet is manufactured from propylene monomer which is a relatively safe gas. This gas is a waste product of the petroleum industry and used to be burned off contributing to greenhouse gas emissions. This means that the more PP made and used in products helps reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Polypropylene is an extremely heat tolerant and stable plastic making it a suitable alternative in all climates around the country. Polypropylene is 100% recyclable.

In summary there is CLEAR evidence that PP is a safer, non-toxic and environmentally friendly alternative to the obsolete technologies that gave us plastics such as pvc. Polypropylene is also the preferred product for storage use in the Australian National Archives!

It's time we moved into the future with our collecting and commit to removing all the damaging pvc from our collections and storing them safely with the use of polypropylene pages and albums.

There are a number of different types of 2x2 album pages that you might pick up from your local coin dealer or supplier. They are often unlabeled, sold per page and who would know where they came from.

I would say that most, if not all of these pages are made from pvc which is a nice thick sturdy material to protect your coins in their 2x2's in the page then in the album. They might be a nice thick protective material but the pvc itself is not suitable for coin storage. It can actually do irreversible damage to your coins spoiling them.

I know the blog team have been going on quite a bit about the pvc issue, but it isn't just us, take a look here. Again, here is an article showing exactly what pvc damage is. If you have a read of it and think there is a cure I have bad news for you, the Blue Ribbon substance mentioned is a CFC and known carcinogen and cannot be purchased in Australia due to its' toxicity.

PVC 20 pocket album pages are typically about 170 micron in thickness. Other album pages that are available in Australia are BCW branded pages imported from the US. These are selling on eBay Australia quite cheaply but buyer beware. These BCW pages are 110 micron thick and are a thinner coin page giving less mechanical protection that traditional coin pages. The imported Ultra-Pro pages we sell are manufactured in the USA and are also available at outlets throughout Australia. These pages are manufactured by the millions for the US sports card, game card, and coin collector market. Ultra-Pro coin pages are 140 microns thick and a suitable (and much safer) alternative to the traditional PVC pages found in the Australian market. They do however only suit 3-ring binders which are not a particularly popular size in Australia. The Purple Penny have available an Australian made 20 pocket Coin page made from archival quality polypropylene. These pages are made by an Australian manufacturer exclusively for The Purple Penny. These pages are the thickest non PVC coin page available at 150 micron thickness and will suit 3 and 4 ring binders.

Have you considered your storage options for your prized collections? You've probably read our previous posts about storage methods, there's lots out there to choose from. Albums you currently have in your collections are most likely made of pvc. We've covered in detail before how pvc albums and pages can irreversibly harm your coins causing erosion to the coin surface and a green slimy appearance to your coins. This will ultimately render your coins worthless.

The solution we've found is polypropylene. This material is acid free, environmentally friendly, recyclable and most of all won't break down and harm your collection. This material is used by the National Archives of Australia and approved for long term storage of those important items that you want to preserve forever.

The Purple Penny team have embarked on a campaign to rid the numismatic world of pvc and we've started with coin albums. We currently have available a 40mm 3-ring polypropylene binder with slipcover for $32.95. If you're not comfortable buying from our shop then you can head over to eBay. These coin folders are PVC free, acid free, and metal free. When teamed with PVC free coin album pages and quality non-adhesive 2x2 coin holders these folders are a true archival grade storage solution for your coin collection. The folders and slip cases are made from durable black textured polypropylene and the rings made from ultra strong glass fibre reinforced nylon. The corners of the folders will not split like other ring binders with plastic coated cardboard covers. You can also purchase the albums with a pack of 10 polypropylene 2x2 album pages that you can use with staple 2x2 holders or 2inch Saflips for the ultimate storage solution.

These folders are shown below:

Welcome to the launch of ThePurplePenny.com. This is a new venture brought to you by the australian-threepence.com blog team. Our new site The Purple Penny is our new home for purchasing coins and numismatic accessories. Our main focus is quality coins and archival quality numismatic accessories.

The Coin Accessories shop features archival quality pvc free polypropylene products perfectly suited to the long term storage of your collection. We'll be adding new items shortly but currently we have a couple of storage options for you to consider.

We've been working with an Australian manufacturer to bring you a perfectly safe storage solution for your collection. Our 3 ring binders come with a matching slipcase in a textured black finish with our stylish logo. These are made in Australia exclusively by us. Made of archival quality acid free chemically inert polypropylene you won't see any pvc in our shop!

These binders can also be purchased with a packet of 10, 20 pocket 2x2 pages. These pages are manufactured by The Purple Penny and suit 2, 3 and 4 ring binders. We have our own collections stored in these albums and pages. Extra packets of 10 pages can also be added to your order.

The Purple Penny website will also be selling quality Proclamation Coins, Pre-Decimal and Decimal coins. There's not a lot of items listed yet but stay tuned!

1991 to 1995 saw the beginning of the Aluminium Bronze mintmark coin designed specifically for the collector market. It also saw the continuation of the low mintage continuous reeding coin fair silver proof dollar releases. Key date coins to look for in this period are the 3 cased Barcelona proofs, with the AlBr cased proof and the silver coin fair cased proof commanding values of up to nearly $300 at retail level. The other coin fair silver proofs released from 1991 to 1995 have respectable catalogue values, whereas none of the mintmark AlBr dollars are hard to obtain nor are they very expensive.

The table below details each and every dollar coin released from 1991 to 1995. We've endeavoured to cover each way in which the coins were released, so for example, the same proof coin from one year may be available in a cased proof, the normal proof set, a coin fair proof set, and even a baby proof set!

Year	Description	Type	Mint Mark	Composition	Notes	Mintage
1991	Mob of Roos	Circulation	None	AlBr	Mint Your Own RAM Visitor Press	22,500
	Mob of Roos	Circulation	None	AlBr	Mint Set	147,700
	Mob of Roos	Circulation	None	AlBr	Mint Set Singapore Coin Fair	200
	Mob of Roos	Proof	None	AlBr	Proof Set	41,490
	Mob of Roos	Proof	None	AlBr	Proof Set Singapore Coin Fair	100
	Mob of Roos	Proof	None	St. Silver	Masterpieces in Silver	25,000
1992	Barcelona	Circulation	None	AlBr	Mint Your Own RAM Visitor Press (some RAM Wallet, some Barcelona Wallet)	16,996
	Barcelona	Circulation	None	AlBr	Royal Easter Show in Card (with and without entry coupons)	26,500
	Barcelona	Circulation	None	AlBr	One Dollar Collection (restrike)	16,702
	Barcelona	Circulation	None	AlBr	Mint Set	118,528
	Barcelona	Proof	None	AlBr	Proof Set	56,367
	Barcelona	Proof	None	AlBr	Encapsulated Proof	2,979
	Barcelona	Proof	None	St. Silver	Silver Cased Proof, interrupted reeding	12,500
	Barcelona	Proof	None	St. Silver	Silver Cased Proof. Coin fair issue, long box, continuous reeding	2,500
1993	Landcare	Circulation	None	AlBr	Circulation	18,200,000
	Landcare	Circulation	C	AlBr	Gallery Press	228,664
	Landcare	Circulation	S	AlBr	Portable Press Sydney Royal Easter Show	119,373
	Landcare	Circulation	M	AlBr	Portable Press Melbourne Agricultural Show	67,185
	Landcare	Circulation	None	AlBr	BBC Hardware Carded Coin	Unknown
	Landcare	Circulation	None	AlBr	Mint Set	84,784
	Landcare	Circulation	None	AlBr	Gumnut Baby Set	24,376
	Landcare	Proof	None	AlBr	Proof Set	46,000
	Landcare	Proof	None	St. Silver	Brisbane Coin Fair Silver Proof Continuous Reeding	5,000
	Landcare	Proof	None	St. Silver	Silver Proof Interrupted Reeding	20,000
1994	Mob of Roos	Circulation	None	AlBr	Circulation	47,600,000
	Dollar Decade	Circulation	C	AlBr	Gallery Press	105,090
	Dollar Decade	Circulation	S	AlBr	Portable Press Sydney Royal Easter Show	74,474
	Dollar Decade	Circulation	M	AlBr	Portable Press Melbourne Agricultural Show	79,256
	Mob of Roos	Circulation	None	AlBr	Gumnut Baby Mint Set	39,958
	Mob of Roos	Circulation	None	AlBr	Mint Set	91,942
	Mob of Roos	Proof	None	AlBr	Proof Set	39,004
	Dollar Decade	Proof	None	St. Silver	Sydney Coin Fair Silver Proof Continuous Reeding	5,001
	Dollar Decade	Proof	None	St. Silver	Silver Proof Interrupted Reeding	20,002
1995	Mob of Roos	Circulation	None	AlBr	Circulation	21,422,000
	Waltzing Matilda Centenary	Circulation	C	AlBr	Available at RAM in wallet	171,709
	Waltzing Matilda Centenary	Circulation	S	AlBr	Portable Press Sydney Royal Easter Show	55,391
	Waltzing Matilda Centenary	Circulation	B	AlBr	Portable Press Brisbane Agricultural Show	74,353
	Waltzing Matilda Centenary	Circulation	M	AlBr	Portable Press Melbourne Agricultural Show	76,407
	Mob of Roos	Circulation	None	AlBr	Gumnut Baby Mint Set	36,190
	Mob of Roos	Circulation	None	AlBr	Mint Set	96,079
	Mob of Roos	Proof	None	AlBr	Proof Set	48,537
	Mob of Roos	Proof	None	AlBr	Gumnut Baby Proof Set	6,704
	Waltzing Matilda Centenary	Proof	None	St. Silver	Sydney Coin Fair Silver Proof Continuous Reeding	2,501
	Waltzing Matilda Centenary	Proof	None	St. Silver	Silver Proof Interrupted Reeding	20,005

1984 saw the release of the Australian Aluminium Bronze dollar coin and the beginning of most popular coin series for Australian coin collectors. New opportunities for coin collectors (and revenue raising opportunities for the Royal Australian Mint) began in the very first year of issue with collector uncirculated grade and proof grade coins released specifically for collectors. 1986 saw the very first commemorative dollar released (the International Year of Peace). In 1988 the $2 coin was released and following this millions of dollar coins were melted down, presumably these were 1984 issues. In 1990 we saw the first silver proof dollars struck in the 1990 Masterpieces in Silver set. Truly those interested in dollar coins had a lot to watch out for!

The table below details each and every dollar coin released from 1984 to 1990. We've endeavoured to cover each way in which the coins were released, so for example, the same proof coin from one year may be available in a cased proof, the normal proof set, a coin fair proof set, and even a baby proof set!

Year	Description	Type	Mint Mark	Composition	Notes	Mintage
1984	Mob of Roos	Circulation	None	AlBr	Circulation	185,985,000
	Mob of Roos	Circulation	None	AlBr	Bubble Pack	538,358
	Mob of Roos	Circulation	None	AlBr	One Dollar Collection (restrike)	16,702
	Mob of Roos	Proof	None	AlBr	Cased Proof	159,340
1985	Mob of Roos	Circulation	None	AlBr	Circulation	96,200,000
	Mob of Roos	Circulation	None	AlBr	One Dollar Collection (restrike)	16,702
	Mob of Roos	Circulation	None	AlBr	Mint Set	170,000
	Mob of Roos	Proof	None	AlBr	Proof Set	74,809
1986	International Year of Peace	Circulation	None	AlBr	Circulation	25,100,000
	International Year of Peace	Circulation	None	AlBr	One Dollar Collection (restrike)	16,702
	International Year of Peace	Circulation	None	AlBr	Mint Set	180,000
	International Year of Peace	Proof	None	AlBr	Proof Set	67,000
1987	Mob of Roos	Circulation	None	AlBr	Mint Set	200,000
	Mob of Roos	Proof	None	AlBr	Proof Set	69,684
1988	First Fleet Bicentenary	Circulation	None	AlBr	Circulation	20,400,000
	First Fleet Bicentenary	Circulation	None	AlBr	One Dollar Collection (restrike)	16,702
	First Fleet Bicentenary	Circulation	None	AlBr	Mint Set	290,940
	First Fleet Bicentenary	Proof	None	AlBr	Mint Set Coin Fair Issue	10,000
	First Fleet Bicentenary	Proof	None	AlBr	Proof Set	101,518
	First Fleet Bicentenary	Proof	None	AlBr	Proof Set Coin Fair Issue	10,000
	First Fleet Bicentenary	Proof	None	AlBr	Dealer Proofs	3,500
	First Fleet Bicentenary	Proof	None	AlBr	1988 Three Coin, Three Banknote Set	25,000
	First Fleet Bicentenary	Proof	None	St. Silver	Masterpieces in Silver (1988)	24,970
1989	Mob of Roos	Circulation	None	AlBr	Mint Set	150,602
	Mob of Roos	Proof	None	AlBr	Proof Set	67,618
	Mob of Roos	Proof	None	AlBr	Proof Set Coin Fair	5,000
1990	Mob of Roos	Circulation	None	AlBr	Mint Set	103,766
	Mob of Roos	Proof	None	AlBr	Proof Set	51,015
	Mob of Roos	Proof	None	AlBr	Proof Set Coin Fair	1,985
	Mob of Roos	Proof	None	St. Silver	Masterpieces in Silver (1990)	23,551
	First Fleet Bicentenary	Proof	None	St. Silver	Masterpieces in Silver Restrike (1990)	23,551
	International Year of Peace	Proof	None	St. Silver	Masterpieces in Silver Restrike (1990)	23,551

In an effort to promote care of environment and natural resources the Australian government initiated the Landcare program. In 1993 in support of this initiative the Royal Australian Mint released the Landcare dollar. Initially intended as a collector only coin at Christmas time in 1993 a shortage of dollar coins in circulation resulted in the RAM using the Landcare dollar dies (minus a mintmark) minting nearly 20 million of the coins for release into circulation. Some of the coins were released in a special presentation sheet to help fund a 'Clean Rivers' project, this was a team effort between the mint, BBC Hardware, and Landcare Australia.

The Landcare dollar was released into general circulation (18.2 million coins) and onto the collector market with the C (228,664 mintage), S (119,373 mintage), and M (67,185 mintage) mintmark. Like several other dollar coins of this time frame it was struck to proof standard in silver with continuous reeding for the NAA Coin Fair (5,000 mintage) and with normal interrupted reeding (20,000 mintage). As is normal the NAA Coin Fair silver proof has the highest CV ($110), the aluminium bronze strikings have very large mintages for mintmark dollars and the CV of each is $10 or under. Interestingly the more common silver proof had a small number issued with a printing error on the included COA (showing mintage as 24,000 in error). These proofs with the error COA (certificate of authenticity) are scarce with a CV of over $400.

Seen above the obverse of the coin depicts the Raphael Maklouf portrait of Queen Elizabeth. The reverse of the coin was designed by Vladimir Gottwald. It depicts a tree on the left formed from undulating bands (to signify water I imagine) and on the right the Landcare Australia logo of clasping hands forming a map of Australia.

The song, Waltzing Matilda is best known as the unofficial anthem of Australia (our official anthem is Advance Australia Fair). A bush ballad orginaly penned by famous Australian poet Banjo Patterson tells the story of an intinerant drifter known in Australia as a swagman. Carrying his worldly possessions and bed (his 'swag') on his back he steals a sheep to eat and rests under a tree for a cup of tea and to eat the stolen sheep. Policemen and the sheep's owner arrive to arrest him but rather than accept capture the swagman throws himself in a nearby water hole (a billabong) and drowns, he then goes on to haunt the location. To celebrate the centenary of Waltzing Matilda the Royal Australian Mint released the 'Waltzing Matilda' aluminium bronze dollar in 1995 onto the collector coin market. While written as a poem in 1887 the song was put to music for the first time in 1895 (hence the centenary) by Christina Macpherson. You can see her original manuscript of the poem put to music here.

While not released into general circulation the Waltzing Matilda dollar was struck in Aluminium Bronze with the C (171,709 mintage), S (55,391 mintage), B (74,353 mintage), and M (76,407 mintage) mintmarks. The coin was also struck in silver in proof standard, with continuous reeding for the 1995 NAA Coin Fair (2,501 mintage) and normal interrupted reeding (20,005 mintage) for the broader collector market. As you'd expect the NAA Coin Fair silver proof has the highest CV (160) of the Waltzing Matilda dollars, the aluminium bronze strikings have slightly higher CV's than most collector dollar coins yet are pretty common and easily found.

Seen above the obverse of the coin depicts the Raphael Maklouf portrait of Queen Elizabeth. The reverse of the coin by Vladimir Gottwald. It depicts a stylized image of the swagman from the song Waltzing Matilda, replete with a swag and walking stick and dressed roughly as one would expect from a largely homeless 19th century drifter.

In 1998 the Royal Australian Mint released a collector coin celebrating the 100th anniversary of the birth of Lord Baron Howard Florey (who was shown on the paper $50 note). Born in Adelaide, South Australia in 1898 he is famously known as perhaps Australia's greatest ever scientist and having shared in the discovery of the anti biotic penicillin with Ernst Chain and Alexander Fleming. In fact he shared the Nobel Prize for Medicine with these gentlemen in 1945 for the discovery and extraction of penicillin. Some experts regard that the discoveries that Florey was responsible for have probably saved more than 80 million lives worldwide!

While not released into general circulation the Florey dollar was struck in Aluminium Bronze with the C (77,035 mintage), S (44,080 mintage), B (29,914 mintage), A (21,120 mintage), and M (21,809 mintage) mintmarks. The coin was also struck in silver in proof standard, interestingly the silver proof was struck with the Ian Rank-Broadley portrait of the Queen on the obverse. As you'd expect the silver proof has the highest CV ($85) of the Florey dollars, the aluminium bronze strikings are low CV and easily found.

Seen above the obverse of the coin depicts the Raphael Maklouf portrait of Queen Elizabeth. The reverse of the coin is a team effort by Horst Hahne and Vladimir Gottwald. It depicts a portrait of Florey in surgical garb. As far as coin portraits go it's a pretty good one, and certainly a lot better than some portraits found on Australian dollar coins, such as that on the Parkes Dollar.

It is perhaps appropriate that in the same year that the Australian dollar coin turns 25 that I do a quick entry on the coin celebrating the 10 year anniversary of the dollar coin. In 1994 the Royal Australian Mint released the 'dollar decade' dollar coin onto the collector coin market. While not released into general circulation it was struck in Aluminium Bronze with the C, S, and M mintmarks. Mintages for each of the mintmarks were 105,090 for the C mintmark, 74,474 for the B, and 79,256 for the C. It was also struck in silver with continuous reeding (5001 mintage) and in silver with the normal interrupted reeding (20,002 mintage). The coin struck from silver with the continuous reeding (struck for the NAA Coin Fair in 1994) is the key coin to get here, with a low mintage and a CV in 2009 of over $100. The other coins are fairly common and not too pricey.

Seen above the obverse of the coin depicts the Raphael Maklouf portrait of Queen Elizabeth. The reverse of the coin is by Vladimir Gottwald. The reverse image is a quite smart image of the old Australian $1 note morphing and merging into the ubiquitous mob of roos dollar coin. Viewed under magnification there is a remarkable amount of detail in the engraving of the coin and dollar notes on the reverse, it is a truly attractive reverse.

Designer and engraver Horst Werner Hahne is best known for his depiction of an Aboriginal elder on the Australian 2 dollar coin. This design, one of many coins by Hahne is also his favourite design. He has designed many Australian and South Pacific coins, medals and medallions.

Hahne was born in Germany in 1940. He emigrated to Australia in 1959 with no English, no money, no home and no job but a determination to succeed in his dream of starting afresh. After time in a migrant camp he was employed as a die stamp hand-engraver with Griffith Press in Adelaide. Here he honed his craft engraving dies for Post Office first day covers, business cards and letterheads, his boss teaching him the skills of the English language.

In 1965 Hahne moved to Canberra and was employed by the Royal Australian Mint as hand-engraver of coin and medal dies. This job involved engraving, hubbing and finishing coin, proof and medal dies and tooling. He was also a student at the Canberra School of Art. In 1979 Hahne was appointed Chief engraver at the RAM.

In 1979 Hahne's first coin design was a 50c released by Fiji, this was succeeded by numerous Australian designs from 1983. Popular Australian coin issues designed by Hahne are:

• $2 coin


• 1986 Year of peace $1


• 1995 50th anniversary of the United Nations 20 cent


• 1995 Weary Dunlop 50 cent


• 1985-1994 $10 State series


• 1989-1994 10 dollar Bird series

Hahne has also designed many medals and medallions for private and public organisations. These include:

• Anzac Peace Prize


• Ausipex 1984 (International philatelic exhibition)


• the Senate Medal

The $10 Bird series (as mentioned above) won Hahne a design award in 1993. A highlight for Hahne as he was a keen birdwatcher. The highlight of his career was being awarded the Public Service Medal in 1996, the medal designed by Stuart Devlin. This, Horst felt was formal recognition by his adopted country for his outstanding efforts.

On the 14th of May 1984 Australia released it's first one dollar coin to replace the dollar note. Coins have a longer service life to the paper notes that were in use so it had been decided to withdraw notes from circulation and replace them with a coin.
Designer Stuart Devlin who originally designed the decimal coin series released back in 1966 was invited to submit ideas for the design of the one dollar coin.
Proposed featuring animals for the one dollar coin was a penguin, wombat, a three kangaroo and a five kangaroo design. The shape of the coin was also considered with proposals for a seven sided coin and also a scalloped edge coin.
It was approved to release the new 25 millimetre aluminium bronze dollar coin with Devlin's image of 5 kangaroos nicknamed the "mob of roos" design. The Australian kangaroo having not made it onto decimal currency as yet and the roo being somewhat of a national icon acknowledged by tourists and visitors to our country, it was a fitting design for the new dollar coin.
The mob of roos dollar has now been circulating for 25 years and has proved to be one of the most popular designs on our coinage.

In 1996 the Royal Australian Mint released an aluminium bronze dollar coin into circulation that commemorated the 100th anniversary of the death of Sir Henry Parkes. More than 26 million of these coins were issued for circulation as well as much lower mintage collector coins with C for Canberra, S for Sydney, B for Brisbane, A for Adelaide, and M for Melbourne mintmarks. About 20,000 of the coins were also struck in sterling silver specifically for the collector market. A Parkes dollar is depicted above, the obverse depicts the the Raphael Maklouf portrait of Queen Elizabeth II. The reverse depicts Sir Henry Parkes with the legend "SIR HENRY PARKES 1815-1986" and "FATHER OF FEDERATION". The reverse was engraved by the Mint engraver Wojciech Pietranik.

Sir Henry Parkes was an interesting character. He was a serial politician (he stood for more than 10 different seats in the colony of New South Wales), a serial bankrupt (he failed in business 5 or more times), a serial husband (he had 3 wives), and prodigous father (he had more than 10 children). He was born in England in 1815 and emigrated to Australia in 1839 after becoming bankrupt in London. His lifetime in Australia consisted of a series of failed businesses (including a toy factory, a newspaper, and a fancy goods importing businesses). These business failures were punctuated by attempts (some successful and some not) to run for the New South Wales parliament, he won seats in Sydney, East Sydney, Kiama, and Mudgee in a period of 25 years before becoming Premier in 1877. In this same period he also lost elections in another seat in Sydney, was forced to resign from a seat because of bankruptcy, and failed to gain the seat of East Maitland.

He was Premier on and off from 1877 to 1882 (because of faction disputes) before his government collapsed in 1882 and he lost his seat in East Sydney. The next 15 years saw him win and lose a succession of different seats in NSW and gain one more period as Premier (his fourth). At the time of his death in 1896 he'd spent more than 50(!) years sitting in the NSW parliament. A colourful character his politics changed radically during the course of his career, despite being known as the father of federation he did not support the concept strongly until the last few years of his political life. The general consensus of his support is that it was one of convenience, but despite this he is known for a strong speech at Tenterfield urging Federation of the colonies of Australia. His reasons for doing so were mixed at best, and he is recorded as saying that federation would be a great idea so that trouble makers in Broken Hill would become South Australia's problem and not those of NSW!

So there we have it, the Parkes Dollar. Not one of the more attractive dollar coins released by the RAM, and one that wears very poorly. But an interesting coin none the less, simply because of the character of the man whose life it commemorates.

In 1942 the Royal Mint branch in Bombay India was contracted to mint Australian half pennies. Half pennies were also minted in Melbourne and Perth in that year. With the onset of World War II in 1939 and the war in the Pacific getting into full swing in 1942 there was a huge influx of American servicemen into Australia and a resultant demand for coinage. 1942 saw some Australian silver coins being minted in the USA for the first time and Australian pennies and half pennies being minted in India for the first time in over 30 years. This was simply because the Australian mints were unable to keep up with demand.

In 1942 the Royal Mint in Bombay India minted 6,000,000 Australian half pennies. They were minted with an obverse depicting King George V, 147 rim denticles, and an I mintmark below the portrait. The reverse shows the usual kangaroo but the die itself is subtly different to those used in the Melbourne and Perth mints in Australia. Differences include a kangaroo with different features and a dot before and after "HALF PENNY". For the majority of the mintage, the rim of the reverse was decorated with alternating thick and thin denticles, with 106 of each present. For some reason, reverse dies prepared for the 1943 mintage of half pennies were punched with the 1942 and used to mint a very small proportion of the 1942 mintage. These 1943 reverse dies again had alternating thick and thin denticles, but this time there was 104 of each and the denticles were a different size and shape. This 1942I half penny produced with the 1943 reverse dies is known as the long reverse denticle variety, is considered scarce, and classified by the Renniks Pre-Decimal Variety book as variety A36A.

The two varieties are easy to distinguish with one sitting next to the other, but without a coin of each type for comparison they can be a little tricky to tell apart. On the long reverse denticles variety the thick denticles are considerably longer and thinner than those on the common 106 denticle variety described earlier. In fact, the shorter thicker denticles on the common variety almost take on the appearance of rim beads. You can see the difference clearly in the detailed image above. The long reverse denticle variety is on the left, the common variety on the right.

Another differentiator between the regular reverse 1942I half penny and the long reverse denticle variety is the alignment of the second 'A' in Australia. Seen above the 'A' on the scarcer variety is clearly lower than that on the reverse of the regular coin. This mis-alignment is also found on the reverse of all 1943I half pennies.

Previously we talked about double struck coins errors but this entry largely covered double struck coins where the coin had been struck once and then partially left the coining chamber before being struck again. This results in two clearly visible strikes to the coin, with one partially overlapping the other.

There is a slightly different class of double struck coin known as the rotated double struck coin. This error occurs when a coin is struck and is ejected from the coining chamber but the struck coin falls back in the coining chamber. It is then struck again but the coin had rotated slightly so the result is two strikes to the coin that are rotated with respect to each other.

Above you can see an Australian half penny of indeterminate year that has been struck twice. You can see the results of the first strike clearly, with the second portrait visible at about 45 degrees to the correctly oriented portrait. You can also see a second kangaroos tail at 45 degrees to the first on the reverse of the coin. It appears that this coin rotated about 45 degrees counter clockwise (viewed from the obverse) when it was struck the second time. The second two figures of the date in both strikes has been obliterated by the other strike so it's impossible to say what year this coin is.

Above is another rotated double strike. This time it is an Australian 1964 Penny. This coin has rotated nearly 90 degrees clockwise (viewed from the obverse) after the first strike. You can see this clearly on the reverse with the first set of kangaroo front legs emerging from the hind legs of the second strike. It's not entirely clear in the image but you can also see the ribbon on the back of HM's hair from the first strike in the middle of HM's head from the second strike.

In my previous entry about Australian proclamation coins I mentioned the silver rupee of India valued at 2s 6d in the proclamation by Governor King of the Colony of New South Wales. Exactly what silver rupee Governor King was talking about in the Proclamation is unclear, as silver rupees were being struck in nearly 30 different Indian provinces at the time. Rupees could be crudely struck examples like that shown above, or more modern looking examples struck in a milled coining press. The rupee was introduced to India in the 16th Century and was supposed to contain 175 grains (or 11.33g) of silver. By the time of the proclamation the silver rupee being struck by the British East India Company comprised 180 grains (11.66g) of 88.8% fine silver. The EIC rupees (struck from 1773) are the most commonly accepted 'proclamation rupees' and were minted in the style of the Mughal Empire rupees. These EIC rupees were known as 'sicca' rupees, where 'sicca' translates loosely to 'widely and commonly accepted'. An example of one of these rupees is show above.

The obverse of these coins has the Arabic inscription "Emperor Shah Alam, defender of Mohammed's faith, shadow of grace of Allah, has struck this coin to be current in the seven climes". Typically much of this legend does not fit onto the flan of the coin and is missing.

The reverse of the EIC sicca rupees did not vary regardless of where the coin was struck. The Arabic inscription reads "Minted at Murshidabad the 19th year of the auspicious accession". The mint name did not vary despite some coins being minted in Dacca and Calcutta. The reason for the unaltering reverse was to prevent money changers and merchants in the capital city of Murshidabad discounting the value of rupees minted elsewhere.

Because of the sheer range of silver rupees being struck in India at the time of the Proclamation it is hard for the collector to know where to begin. I'd suggest looking for a non milled coin of the late 18th Century as these would have been the most common rupees at the time. If you can pin a coin down as being minted by the British East India Company then you've got the coin most likely to have been traded in the Colony of New South Wales at the time. It is easy to imagine that currency from the British Colonies of India made its way to the colonies in Australia on merchant ships at the time. When looking for a coin I'd try to find one with the year showing on the reverse, the year is shown in Arabic script so you'll need to learn a few Arabic numerals to be able to spot it. Look for something well centered and without cracks or adjustment marks. You should be looking for a high grade coin with a natural patina (that is not cleaned or dipped). Silver rupees are common and there's no real reason for settling for a lower grade example unless the eye appeal is very high.

Here's a quick tip. Do not hold your coins in 2x2's together with rubber bands. Why? The mylar windows will be pressed hard against the coin surface and chemicals will leech through the mylar from the rubber band to the coin causing toning of the coin. I first read about this a while back on the now defunct Aussie Coin forums and quickly undid all of the bulk 2x2's I had held together with rubber bands. I've been telling people not to do it since. A short while back someone on the PCGS World and Ancient Coin Forums disagreed with me and told me that mylar is permeable in such small amounts as to make my theory rubbish. Rather than argue I kept quiet and thought perhaps I was wrong.

Well now I read on the Coin Community Forums that someone has seen exactly the same thing! I've quoted the whole post below with the relevant area in bold. There's a direct link to the post here, it probably wont stay live for long though.

Up for sale are 8 beautiful 2008 "Inaugural Year" Austrian Vienna Philharmonic Silver 1oz Coins. BU Rebublik Osterreich 1.5 Euro Face Value 1 Unze Feinsilber First Euro Denominated Silver Bullion Coin

Each coin will come in oversized 2x2 in bubble mailer

I also have 2 Ugly Toned 2008 Philharmonics. Occurred from using rubber band to hold 2x2s together (toning is on one side of coin) Bullion is Bullion Right!

So there you have it! Don't wrap up your coins in 2x2's with rubber bands. They can cause your coins to tone, and tone quickly, this example shows 2008 coins toning in little more than a year!

Australia's first legal tender gold coin was the Adelaide One Pound struck from Australian gold and dies made locally at the Government Assay Office in South Australia. There was a shortfall of coins in the mid 1800's because of the gold rush and the newly populated colonies. The government needed a way of converting gold nuggets to currency. The bullion act was therefore amended to allow the assay office to strike Ten Shilling, One Pound and Five Pound gold coins. Only the One Pound gold coin ended up being struck for circulation. In the early 20th century the Melbourne branch of the Royal Mint struck a very small number of the 5 pound coin, and it is believed that just two are still in existence. One of these coins is coming up for sale very soon in the Quartermaster Collection Sale run by Monetarium.

In 1852 the first Adelaide Pound was struck without Royal assent. Because it wasn't given royal approval there is some conjecture over whether it can be officially called a coin and or whether it is just a coin shaped ingot guaranteed to be worth one pound. In late 1852 the coins were found to have a higher intrinsic value than the one pound face value (almost 2 shillings more of gold value) so they were withdrawn with a large number also exported by English profiteers to London where they were melted down for their gold content. Minting was ceased on 13th Feb 1853. After this Royal refusal of the minting was received but by then the coins had already been minted, served their purpose and been withdrawn. Following this a branch of the Royal Mint was setup in Sydney and they started production of gold sovereigns.

There are 2 types of the Adelaide pound. The Type One, with a cracked die and the Type Two with a revised die.

Type One with a beaded inner circle on the reverse minted approx 50 coins before a die crack appeared at 12 o'clock rendering the die useless. Only 30 examples of this type designed by Joshua Payne are thought to have survived today rarely being offered for sale.

A new die was produced, the Type Two minting 24 648 pieces but as many were removed from the colony and melted down it is thought that as few as 200 have survived today. This reverse differed by a crenellated inner circle.

I think you'd be lucky to pick up an example of an Adelaide Pound for $10 000 and many have sold for well above this. With a choice unc Type 1 having a Renniks (43rd ed) cv of $325 000. Beware of forgeries as fraudulent examples of this coin have been found struck from dies and more crudely cast examples have been passed as genuine.

Question:

Hi i heard along the grape vine that the australian dollar coin, dated 2000, was rare because of a small print amount that year. The one i got isnt in mint condition, but i was just wondering if you knew what it was worth? If your not sure would you be able to direct me into who would know? Yours

Answer:

Hi, Thanks for your email and thanks for reading our blog. The 2000 mob of roos design one dollar is a relatively low mintage of 7, 592,000 with a McDonalds catalogue value of $50 in uncirculated condition. However, if this coin has been pulled from circulation, either in your change or maybe out of a poker machine then it isn't worth any more than one dollar ........except if you've been incredibly lucky and found a mule. If you haven't read our post about how to identify a 2000 $1/10 cent mule then please have a look. Happy Collecting, The australian-threepence.com blog team