We've spent years striving to perfect the art of taking quality coin images. Over the years we've upgraded parts of our setup and we're finally at that point where we're happy with the images we take and happy that they portray the coins as they are without the need for photoshop or artificial manipulation. We use 2 different methods of coin photography. The first is to use a Dinolite Microscope for extreme closeup shots which we've discussed previously in the entry Dino-Lite USB Microscopes and Coins. We also have a digital SLR for images of entire coins not requiring magnified close-up. The Dinolite won't image an entire coin unless it's threepence size and the built in lighting is very poor for imaging an entire coin.

Our digital SLR is a Nikon D60 with 10.2 megapixel resolution. We mostly use a Tamron 90mm fixed length macro lens for coins but interchange it with one of it's original lenses, a Nikon 18-55mm lens. This lens is used for shots of larger items such as PNC's and mintsets. The camera sits on a copystand we picked up secondhand from a camera shop and is movable up and down. Clipped on either side of the copystand are 2 lights with swivel arms and shrouds to direct the light. Using 2 PAR 30 100w halogen spotlights the serious light is serious enough to fry an egg! We control the camera from a PC running Nikon's nifty Camera Control 2 software. So what it comes down to now is place the coin under the camera and click via the keyboard!

This 1944s Australian shilling was struck in San Francisco USA (note the S mintmark) on an underweight planchet of 4.95g. Some Australian silver during WWII was struck in both San Francisco and Denver in the USA as demand for coinage outran the capabilities of our Mint's at that time. Because of this shillings undersized planchet it hasn't completely pressed out in the collar die to receive it's edge milling and denticles around the top half of the coin. An interesting coin with a different patina to it's other shilling ram friends.

Represented on eBay as being struck on an underweight planchet the above coin sold for a BIN of $300. An underweight planchet yes, but a more interesting answer fits. This coin was struck in the USA where a war nickel at that time was made from 5 grams of 35% silver, 56% copper, 9% manganese. The Australian 1944s shilling should weigh 5.65 grams made from 92.5% silver and 7.5% copper. It's most likely this coin was struck on a foreign planchet, that of a USA 5c! The weight fits and the unusual patina is derived from the lower silver and higher copper percentage. What a rare occurance for a misplaced USA nickel blank to find it's way into the hopper of blanks to be struck as Australian Shillings, for it to be struck by the press and pass quality checking to be shipped back to Australia as circulating currency.

The way to prove this theory beyond doubt is to send this coin off to PCGS or NGS for non-invasive compositional testing and it to be slabbed as an Australian shilling struck on a USA war nickel planchet - spectacular error coin.

A similar coin (in it's raw state) dated 1943s and accurately identified sold for an $1,100 knock down bid (+ buyers premium) at IAG auction 73 (lot 487 March 2011). Another 1943s sold for $1320 (+ buyers premium) at IAG auction 71 (lot 460 March 2010).

Other interesting foreign planchet error coins are an Australian $2 coin struck on a Euro 10c planchet or the Australian Mob of Roos One Dollar Struck on Venezuelan Bi-metal Planchet.

The road taken to understand a coin error is an interesting one. When presented with an error coin, the first thing we ask ourselves is "how did this happen?" The understanding of how the error occurred is the key to a return on your investment true to the real value of the coin.

We often see misrepresented errors on sites such as eBay or at public auction, often to benefit the seller and often to benefit the buyer. So as not to "do your dough" in the first instant it's important to be able to recognise post mint damage and realise when a coin just couldn't possibly be like that and must have encountered some foul play in the toolroom or the back shed. Just having a talk with friends or a discussion on an internet coin forum might bring the answer that you need about how that coin error occurred. An understanding of how the coin press works is also valuable knowledge when it comes to determining how the malfunction occurred and what caused the problem with the coin. If you can recognise the error that you have and can accurately explain the process of the fault then this might mean a return on your investment of hundreds of dollars instead of ten dollars.
Some examples you ask?

1. A bulk lot at public auction includes a 5c coin described as a thin planchet and sold it for around $15. Ok, at first glance it is, but have a closer look. There are striations in the fields and yes, the planchet is in fact thinner than it should be and the coin weight is considerably less. Some of the design is weak. It is in fact a split planchet coin which has been through the press and struck after the 2 coin halves split. One half of the coin missing and the coin in question struck on a planchet only half the thickness. A coin worth a few hundred dollars.
2. A 1944s shilling represented on eBay as being struck on an underweight planchet sold for $300. It has, however, been struck on a foreign planchet and is worth over a thousand dollars. Read the story in our entry Foreign planchet error coins.
3. Blank coin planchets regularly sell for $15-$40 and are simply blank metal rounds that didn't pass through the press. But what if they have actually ventured through the press and been part of a minting malfunction? Any part of the design featured on a coin turns a $15 blank into a $100-200 error coin as can be seen here in the Die Adjustment Strike coin error entry. These types of errors are the result of a low striking pressure.

I picked up a copy of this rather hefty reference guide a year or 2 ago for my partners birthday. I must say I have probably got just as much enjoyment out of it as he has! As collecting habits morph over time we've become more interested in commemorative medals and this is the key reference source for Australian exonumia.

Published in 2008 the 700 page hardcover guidebook features Australian commemorative medals, medallions and medalets. A mammoth task that Les has pulled off to a tee with images, descriptions of the obverse and reverse, size, metal and mintages of all medal issues. Must have taken hundreds of hours of tireless work and research helped by libraries and museums to prepare the detailed data. Medals are easily referred to in date order and a section at the back references undated issues with an index as well. Our word of coin collecting just just branched into exonumia!!

This is the second book by Les, a similar volume was issued in 1983 with commemorative medal and medalet issues from 1788-1980. This updated edition adds many issues and corrects errors. The previous book listed 1500 medals and this book lists 3026. The numerous issues for the Australian bicentenary in 1988 can be found in their own book, "Australian Bicentenary Medals 1788-1988"

One chapter of interest in the book is histories of the various well known Australian medallists including Stokes, Amor and A J Parkes..

Medals are often referred to by their Carlisle numbers in sales and auction catalogues by dealers. For example the medal commemorating Decimal Changeover in the blog entry Decimal Commemorative Medal 1966 has a Carlisle reference of 1966/16 and can be found on page 349 of the guide.

Also included with the book is a supplementary price guide booklet with general pricing estimates published in 2008. This book is a credit to Les and all his hard work, it is certainly a valuable piece of our numismatic library.

Earlier this week we were lucky enough to be able to talk to Chris Meallin, the general manager of Australian Coin Auctions (ACA). Chris kindly gave us half an hour of his time in the ACA offices downstairs from the Downies store in Melbourne's Block Arcade. Please note that we've paraphrased what Chris had to say and we hope we haven't taken liberties with what he told us.

How and when did Australian Coin Auctions start?

Australian Coin Auctions is a separate entity to Downies and was founded in 1993 with the first Auction being held in 1994. Chris helped to found ACA and all auctions prior to this time were part of the Downies business. Chris strived to make the ACA auctions a source for fresh material rather than a means for dealers to market their stock in a different way.

What sort of material does Australian Coin Auctions handle?

ACA handles numismatic material and other collectables. About 25% of lots are non-numismatic. 85% of lots are entered into the auction by the general public with only a handful of dealers making up the rest of the lots. Chris mentioned that lots come in from the public in a number of ways. This includes people walking into the ACA offices in Melbourne, others who mail their lots in, and in some cases the ACA staff will visit potential vendors and even take a truck along to bring material back to their offices!

What was the strangest lot Australian Coin Auctions handled?

Chris chuckled when we asked this question and answered without hesitation "a shrunken human head". This artifact from New Guinea posed a dilemma to the ACA staff and it was decided not to include the head in the auction. It was gifted to Chris and now takes pride of place at his residence.

What impact do you think online auction sites such as eBay have had on public auctions?

Chris surprised us with his answer here. He believes that online auctions have helped clearance rates and that room auctions are the cheapest way for online resellers to obtain mint products at prices often below issue price or well below catalogue values. Clearance rates in the decimal section of the auctions run at 100% with many online resellers sourcing their products from Australian Coin Auctions.

What interesting items are planned for the next auction (Auction #308)?

A couple of things of interest in the next auction are a high grade 1918 penny which Chris says is the best he's seen and a very rare "You are the Star" box which houses a 1934/5 Melbourne Centenary Florin.

Thanks to Chris Meallin for taking the time to speak with us. Anyone wishing to submit coins, stamps or collectables in these public auctions can contact the Australian Coin Auctions team via their website http://www.downies.com/aca/home.asp or by telephone on (03) 8677 8800.

I hope you're finding these articles about strong prices realised for coins interesting! It will certainly make for interesting historical reading in a few years time to see how the market has moved as PCGS graded coins become more common and more liquid on the Australian coin collecting market. Two days ago one of the pioneers (and champions) of PCGS graded coins in Australia managed to sell a PCGS MS67 1963 Shilling for the remarkable price of $360.

The reason I say this price is remarkable is that the 1963 shilling is not particularly rare in any condition. The PCGS population shows a total of 14 coins in MS67 and 65 in MS66. Despite these large numbers and a mintage of more than 10 million coins this MS67 example still managed 8 times catalogue value. This compares more than favourably with the PCGS MS67 1958 Shilling which sold recently for 7 times catalogue value despite being a much more scarce coin.

This probably indicates a couple of things. First, collectors are willing to pay for quality. Second, it only takes two determined bidders to drive the price of a coin to heady heights. Examination of the bidding history of this coin suggests that this is exactly what happened.

In 1996 there were 2 different coins minted as a tribute to the cricketing great "The Don". An uncirculated bi-metal $5 coin and a proof aluminium bronze $5 coin was released.

The uncirculated bi-metal $5 coin was issued in a collector card and also with a Westpac bank sleeve both for face value of $5. This bi-metal coin features an inner disc of aluminium bronze and an outer ring of austenitic stainless steel. 237,728 of the carded coins were struck and another 310,213 coins issued with the Westpac sleeve. This release is the first of many Bradman coins issued over the years. The coin weighs 10.6g and is 28.12mm in diameter -seen above.

An aluminium bronze proof coin with a different reverse (not shown) was also issued in 1996. Struck in Canberra at the RAM it was available for $30 to collectors and issued in a special case. These coins weigh 28g and have a diameter of 38.9mm with a fully reeded edge. A few specially numbered coins were donated to the Bradman Foundation, numbers 1, 334,452 and 999 representing some of the key scores, runs and Test averages achieved by Bradman in his cricket career. The Royal Australian Mint states that no more than 22,500 of these coins would be produced but it appears some reference guides indicate the mintage to be 22,523. Each coin is individually numbered.

Both reverse designs are by Royal Australian Mint designer Vladimir Gottwald and the obverse effigy of Queen Elizabeth II is by Raphael Maklouf.

These were the first Sir Donald Bradman coins of which there have been many, for more detail see the master list of Sir Donald Bradman Coins.

1997 began an annual series of postage stamps issued by Australia Post commemorating Australian Legends. This was the first time a living person other than the Queen would be depicted on a postage stamp.

Australia Post released 2 stamps depicting legendary sportsman Sir Donald Bradman and they were used on a coin and stamp cover issued jointly by the Royal Australian Mint and Australia Post. A $5 bimetallic coin had been released the year before and was restruck with the same design but dated 1997 for inclusion in this special PNC issued for $9.95.

This PNC was issued on January 23rd 1997 in support for Australia Day celebrated on January 26th each year. The postmark depicts the six-stitcher cricket ball and the postcode Bowral NSW 2576, where Sir Don grew up and started his cricketing career. The coin is designed by Vladimir Gottwald and more detailed information can be found in the Australian $5 Coins 1996 Sir Donald Bradman Issues entry. 275,000 of these PNC's were issued.

A variety that can be seen with this PNC is a spelling error on the back of the envelope. In the second paragraph of text the mispelling "Austraila Day" can be seen on some PNC's. This was corrected but it is not known how rare the error PNC's are.

There have been many other Sir Donald Bradman coins issued over the years, see the Sir Donald Bradman Coins master list.

As we posted just recently about the remarkable price that a PCGS MS62 1943S sixpence achieved we thought it worthwhile mentioning the surprising price that another coin realised just recently. This coin, a PCGS MS66 1958 shilling is just one of three coins at that grade and was bought for the eye watering price of $610 on the Australian Ebay. This is slightly more than 7 times the current catalogue value in Gem.

The 1958 shilling, which has mintage of over 8 million coins is by no means scarce, but suffers from what is known as 'condition rarity'. Basically this means that while 1958 shillings are common, 1958 shillings in high grades are not. A quick look at the PCGS population report supports this, with just 18 of the type graded in mint state, compared with 94 coins for the 1959 shilling. The 1959 shilling has a mintage of just two million coins more than the 1958 shilling.

So here's another coin to look out for. 1958 shillings in gem grades are not common and the astute collector would do well to look out for raw coins which could then be graded by PCGS. The growing market acceptance of PCGS graded coins in Australia could then allow for significant profits to be realised if the coins were then sold.

Assistant treasurer Bill Shorten today announced that a 20c commemorative coin would be issued into circulation for the occasion of the Royal Wedding of William and Catherine. Of course this is old news for readers of the Australian Coin Collecting Blog as it was announced here after the first currency determination of 2011 was accepted through parliament and published on the 28th March.
The 20c will feature the same design seen on the Royal Wedding 50c designed by RAM sculptor Vladimir Gottwald and approved by Her majesty the Queen.
These coins will enter circulation soon after the Royal nuptials on April 29th.

Celebrating the Royal wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton on April 29th 2011 this Australian 50c is sculpted by Royal Australian Mint designer Vladimir Gottwald using images of the couple as his inspiration. It is issued as uncirculated in a collector card and also in selectively gold plated silver in a 2 coin set with the official Royal engagement coin. It is the standard dodecagonal size as seen in circulation but this coin is specifically for the collector market -a 20c coin featuring the same design will be released into circulation soon after the Wedding takes place. This 50c is cupro-nickel, weighs 18.24g and is 31.51mm in diameter. The unc coin available for issue price of $8.95 has an unlimited mintage and the selectively gold plated silver coin a mintage of 10,000. The obverse features the standard effigy of Prince William's grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II.

The Australian 1943S (San Francisco) is an innocuous little coin with a mintage of 4 million coins and a current catalogue value of $185 in Gem and $65 in UNC. A quick look at the PCGS population charts shows an unusually low number of just 4 coins graded in mint state, with one each at MS62 through to MS65. This is just 10-30% of the number of other US minted sixpences graded in mint state so clearly something is up. The coins are just not being submitted, mostly likely due to a scarcity in high grades.

It so happens that Walter Eigner, over at Walter Eigner Numismatics has been spruiking the scarcity of this coin in uncirculated grades on several coin forums for a while. He now has some very strong proof to to back this up. He's just managed to realise $560 for a PCGS MS62 example on Ebay. This is nearly 9 times catalogue value of $65 in uncirculated for what appeared to be a fairly baggy coin.

So, as Walter put it, the sleeper coin has awakened. Got a mint state 1943S 6d? Now might be the time to submit it to PCGS and realise a quick profit on it.

In the last few days the authors of this blog have been talking about the surging silver price and the effect it is having on our hobby. On Friday (the 8th of April 2011) the silver price hit the highest price it has seen since the Hunt Brothers drove a silver price bubble to just under USD$50 per troy ounce in 1980. The silver price has improved over 70% in the last 6 months and nearly 130% in the last year. Of course, these sorts of returns have caused a huge demand for silver from speculators and collectors. We've heard first hand of dealers here in Australia advertising to purchase round 1966 80% silver 50c coins and being simply inundated with offers of sale. On the other side of the coin (excuse the pun) we've heard of other dealers who simply cannot buy enough silver to satisfy the demands of silver hoarders. It's obvious that this isn't just an Australian phenomenon as indicated by this news story from the Ocala Newspaper in Florida, USA.

Our very own website has experienced a growth in traffic on the silver bullion related calculators like the Australian Silver Coin Calculator and the United States Silver Coin Calculator. Both of these calculators have had 30% more visitors in the last 3 months compared with the preceding 3 months, which is double the growth we've experienced on the rest of the site. As a result of this we've also recently spun off a Scrap Silver Value Calculator and Scrap Gold Value Calculator onto new sites. We're hoping that accumulators of silver and gold bullion find these as useful as many others have found our coin calculators.

Increasing silver values do have an effect on the price and availability of collectable coins. For example, 50% silver florins from 1957 to 1963 are now worth more as melt silver than their catalogue value as collectable coins in grades of EF or less. Australian 1937 crowns, a low mintage coin, are now worth more as bullion in what I'd call a quite collectable grade of Very Fine. The upshot of coins like these being worth more as bullion than as collectables is that the supply of them is likely to dwindle as they are put into the melt bucket and are no longer available to the collector. Longer term you'd imagine that this will lead to higher catalogue values for lower grade items and the coins being less obtainable to new collectors. There is a positive to this though. If your collection is mostly low grade then suddenly common date worn 92.5% florins are worth $13 just in melt value, while previously you might have been lucky to get 25% or 50% of catalogue value when selling such low grade coins to a dealer.

There's ups and downs to the rising silver price. Opinions are mixed as to whether the price will continue to rise or not. Either way, there's both opportunities and risks in the coin collecting field right now. A careful collector should weigh these up before making any purchases, especially if the collector value of a coin is at or near what it's bullion value might be.

To bring a laugh to the world of coin collecting, because you know it, many of us are just dorks we've come across this hillarious coin related story about the lengths that thieves will go to. Have a read of the News story. It is alleged a man robbed vending machines with a vacuum cleaner in a bizarre get rich quick scheme. In Lincoln Nebraska an apartment complex owner installed surveillance cameras after realising someone was stealing quarters from the washing machines. The thief was recognised from the footage and promptly arrested by police.

Update December 2014: The news story above is now too old and has dropped off the main news stories. But this type of thing appears to happen quite often! Thieves steal coins with vacuum and Thieves steal change from a carwash with a vacuum!

"The Don" is acclaimed as being the greatest achiever in any competitive sport during his cricket career spanning over 25 years in the 1920's-1940's. Known to be the greatest batsman of all time Donald George Bradman was born August 27th 1908 and passed away peacefully on February 25th 2001 aged 92 years.

In 1996-7 the Royal Australian Mint produced three $5 legal tender coins as a tribute to this cricketing legend, one of Australia's most respected sportsmen. A 1996 bi-metallic coin was released and the same coin design issued in a 1997 PNC released with the differing coin date.The 1996 proof $5 was a larger coin with a different design, although all depict 'The Don' with a cricket bat. This coin was not bi-metal but made entirely of aluminium bronze.

It was February 25th 2001 when Sir Don passed away and by late March the Prime Minister had announced an official coin programme honouring the late cricket legend. A celebration of his life and achivements in conjunction with the Bradman Foundation, 3 coins were produced from each of Australia's mints' the RAM and the Perth Mint. A 20c coin was also released into circulation in 2001. Quite scarce to find in your change.

In 2008 marking the centenary of his birth another $5 was issued by the Royal Australian Mint in uncirculated aluminium bronze. In conclusion there have been a number of releases by both Australian Mint's in celebration of this greatest cricketer to ever play the game and the greatest sporting achiever of all time. See the table below to bring them all into perspective.

Year	Description	Presentation	Finish	Issue Price	Mintage
1996	1996 Bradman Bi-metal $5	Card	Uncirculated	$5	237,728
1996	1996 Bradman Bi-metal $5	Westpac Card	Uncirculated	$5	310,213
1996	1996 Bradman Al Br $5	Box	Proof	$30	22,500
1997	1997 Bradman Bi-metal $5	PNC	Uncirculated	$9.95	575,000
2001	2001 Bradman 20c	Circulation	Circ-Unc	20c	10,000,000
2001	2001 Bradman Al Br $5	Card	Uncirculated	$12.95	245,000
2001	2001 Bradman Silver $5	Leatherette Case	Proof	$55	95,000
2001	2001 Bradman Bi-metal Gold/Silver $20	Leatherette Case	Proof	$380	5,000
2001	3 Coin set 2001 $5/$5/$20	Presentation Set	Proof	$447.95	5,000
2008	2008 Bradman Al Br $5	Card	Uncirculated	$18.75	21,356

Only a month after the passing of the cricketing legend Sir Donald George Bradman the Prime Minister announced a series of commemorative coins would be issued in his honour. There have been quite a few Bradman legal tender coins produced, a list can be found on our master Bradman's coins article.

This series of 3 coins complement the 20c released into circulation in the same year, 2001, but these were produced solely for collectors and are termed NCLT. In conjunction with the Bradman foundation and involving both mints the Royal Australian Mint and the Perth Mint the 3 coins above were issued separately and in a 3 coin set.

The coin shown above left is aluminium, zinc and bronze and is Australian legal tender for $5. It has a frosted uncirculated finish with the reverse design featuring the famous Bradman pull shot. It weighs 20g and is 38.74mm in diameter with a reeded edge. This reverse was designed by the Perth Mints' Jovan Radanovich and the coin struck by the Royal Australian Mint. It was issued in a plastic card for $12.95. 245,000 of these coins were minted with an additional 5,000 in the 3 coin set.

The coin shown above middle is the fine silver (1 ounce) proof issue Australian legal tender for $5. The reverse design depicts Bradman playing an off drive. It is 40.5mm in diameter with a fully reeded edge. This reverse was designed by the Perth Mints' Jovan Radanovich and the coin struck by the Perth Mint. It was issued in a leatherette case for $55. 95,000 of these coins were minted with an additional 5,000 in the 3 coin set.

The coin shown above right is the proof bi-metal issue comprising of an inner disc of .27oz fine gold and a fine silver outer ring of .161oz, making a coin mass of 13.4041g. It is Australian legal tender for $20. The design features The Don wearing his baggy green cap. It is 32.1mm in diameter with a fully reeded edge. This reverse was designed by the Perth Mints' Jovan Radanovich and the coin struck by the Perth Mint. It was issued in a leatherette case for $380. 5,000 of these coins were minted with an additional 5,000 in the 3 coin set, this set issued for $447.95

All 3 coins have the standard Ian Rank-Broadley portrait of Queen Elizabeth II depicted on the coin obverse.

2008 would have marked Sir Donald Bradman's 100th birthday. The cricketing great has been depicted on many Australian coins including a number of $5 coins and a circulation 20c, find these in the Sir Donald Bradman Coins master list.

The coin shown above was issued in 2008 and the coin launched at an event at Manuka Oval in Canberra where Bradman played his final match in 1963. CEO of the Royal Australian Mint at the time Janine Murphy said

"We are proud to release this collector coin which celebrates what would have been Sir Donald Bradman's greatest century. He is revered in sporting history, locally and internationally, as the greatest batsman of all time. Bradman's performance on and off the cricket field is a true inspiration to all sportsman. He played an important role in the development of the game and shaping this great nation."

The uncirculated aluminium bronze coin depicts The Don giving his customary salute after scoring his cricketing century and was crafted by the RAM's Vladimir Gottwald (note the G in a circle above Bradman's right shoulder). It was issued for $18.75 in the collector card seen below and struck by the Royal Australian Mint in partnership with the Bradman foundation. It measures 38.74mm in diameter, has a reeded edge and was struck purely for the collector market as NCLT. The obverse is the standard Ian Rank-Broadley portrait of Queen Elizabeth II. This coin has a mintage of 21,356.

Regular readers of the Australian Coin and Banknote magazine will see see that thanks to the editor John Mulhall, an article written for the publication has appeared in the April edition. Similar to the article published here on the blog, a 2 page story written by the Australian Coin Collecting Blog authors appears on page 10-11 of the magazine. The article explains the P counterstamp one dollar varieties that surfaced at the Perth ANDA Coin and Banknote Show in February 2011. You can read more about it in our blog articles:

Australian Dollar Coins -2011 RAM Shilling Ram Dollar P Counterstamp

Important 2011 P Counterstamp Ram Dollar Coin Varieties Surface

or pick up a copy of the latest CAB magazine.

As we just wrote about the launch of our scrap silver value calculator we thought we should probably mention that we've also launched a scrap gold value calculator. The Australian Coin Collecting Blog Scrap Gold Value Calculator allows you to work out the bullion value of gold given that you know the mass and purity of the gold. We'll be adding some more information over there including a guide to caratage, millesimal fineness, and various marks you might find on gold that help you determine it's purity and gold content.

You're probably well aware that we've launched a series of silver and gold coin bullion value calculators over the last couple of years. You are aware aren't you? There's the Mexican Silver Coin Calculator, the US Silver Coin Calculator plus a neat World Gold Coin Calculator too. Just look over on the right hand side of the page under the Gold and Silver Coin Calculators heading and you'll see all the calculators we have available.

These tools have been popular (and fun to make) and we'd been thinking for a while about creating just a regular scrap silver value calculator. This would allow you to just enter a mass of silver, the silver purity, and then give you the bullion value. Trouble is that it's not really very coin related so we weren't sure that we should put it on the blog. In the end we decided that we wouldn't so we've just created a whole new website, the Australian Coin Collecting Blog Scrap Silver Calculator! Right now there's a calculator over there along with some other silver related stuff and we'll be adding more content to that site as time goes on.

Please head over there and check it out, we'd be pleased to hear back from anyone who finds any typos or errors in the calculator. If you've got anything you'd like to see added to that site please let us know too!

The Sir Donald Bradman tribute coin (seen above) was released in 2001 with 10,000,000 coins being minted and issued into circulation. The Don passed away aged 92 in February 2001. The Bradman Commemorative Coin Program of NCLT collector coins was announced April 2nd and then a subsequent currency determination dated April 4th passed in parliament allowed this coin to be struck for circulation.

This 20c coin is quite scarce to find in your change with the expectation that the majority of the circulating coins have been hoarded by the many cricketing fans. Sir Donald George Bradman, the Australian sporting legend in 52 Test matches from 1928 to 1948 scored 6,996 runs at an average of 99.94, a career record unlikely ever to be bettered. This 20c commemorative coin is a fitting tribute to his career achievements.

The release of this coin appears to contradict the circulating coin with a commemorative design policy posted on the RAM website.

"In general, circulating coins will not feature individuals whether living or deceased other than Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and other members of the British Royal Family. In the rare circumstances that a commemorative circulating coin design does feature the image of an individual, the coin would mark the anniversary of the birth or significant historic event in the life of that person. Coins will not commemorate the death of an individual."

The Royal Australian Mint and the Bradman Foundation insist though that this release celebrates his life and sporting achievements rather than his passing. The reverse by Royal Australian Mint sculptor Vladimir Gottwald is his own depiction of Sir Donald batting (his classic cover drive) in front of a wicket with the inscription '1908 SIR DONALD BRADMAN 2001' and a stylised 'G', the designers initial. The obverse of the coin features the Ian Rank-Broadley effigy of the Queen.

Finding this coin in your change or from a hoard in a piggy bank might be your only chance to secure one of these coins. They were not issued in any sets or genuine mint rolls.

If you're a regular reader of our Blog then you've probably noticed that our images have changed a little in the last day. Unfortunately we've had to place what we hope is a fairly unobtrusive watermark on the bottom right of all of the images we create and use on the blog. This is primarily motivated by the large number of on-line sellers who think that it's OK to use our images to mis-represent the coins that they are trying to sell. Clearly this is not in the best interests of anyone and we don't want our hard work being used in a cheap attempt to rip someone off.

That being said we are generally more than happy for people to use our images given that:

1. Appropriate credit is given to us and a link is made back to this blog.
2. The image isn't being used to mis-represent items being sold.
3. Permission is asked!

If you do want to use one of our images for some reason please contact us and let us know!

We've just created a Mexican Silver Coin Bullion Calculator which is free to use and uses the latest silver prices to determine the silver bullion value of Mexican coins. Mexico issued a lot of silver coins in various denominations and silver fineness in the years after 1900 and it can be something of a task to work out exactly how much silver happens to be in a different coin. This is made especially difficult because on more than one occasion they issued the same denomination with differing silver contents in the same year! Mexico continued to issue circulating silver coins until the early 1970's, making it one of the last countries in the world to do so.

Remember that the calculator only tells you the bullion value of coins and that the collector value of a coin can exceed that of the pure bullion value.

In some interesting coin related news it is alleged by German prosecutors that 29 tonnes of damaged, invalidated and separated bi-metal Euro coins were being cleverly reassembled in China. They were then returned to Germany and deposited at a bank in an outrageous attempt at fraud netting the criminals US$8.5 million over a 3 year period from 2007 to 2010.

A 1 Euro coin appears to be a bi-metal coin (but is in fact a tri-metal coin), with an inner disc made from Cu-Ni clad nickel, and an outer ring of Nickel Brass. The 2 Euro coins are of a similar construction but have a Nickel Brass clad Nickel core and a Cu-Ni outer ring. Damaged and mutilated ???1 and ???2 coins from circulation are collected by German banks and destroyed by separating the inner core from the outer ring, the remnants are then sold as scrap metal to China. Recently, unscrupulous persons were arrested after purchasing these bags of ex-coin scrap parts in China and reassembling them. The re-assembled coins were sent back to Germany in the baggage of Lufthansa airline staff (who have no weight restrictions on their luggage).

After returning to Germany the coins were mixed in with quantities of normal 1 and 2 Euro coins and deposited at the German Bundesbank in bagged coin deposits. These bags were simply weighed by the bank with the contents not thoroughly checked and then accepted as valid deposits. The Bundesbank just happens to be the only financial institution in Europe that accepts damaged coin without charge to the customer. This was the biggest Euro currency related fraud since 2002 when the common Euro currency and coins were introduced into the Eurozone.

Currently there have been 6 people arrested, including Chinese immigrants and flight attendants, all wanted for their involvement in the transfer of counterfeit currency (which is what the re-made coins are considered to be). 25 more people are wanted in connection with the fraud. Authorities were first alerted to the scam when a flight attendant was seen struggling with her suitcase in Frankfurt airport in early 2010. A random search revealed she had thousands of re-constructed ???1 and ???2 coins inside!

The investigation continues.