There are not too many coin auctions in Adelaide, we can recall just 3 in the last 7 years or so. Last night (30 May 2011), antique dealers Theodore Bruce held what they called the "Gold, Gold, Gold. Coins, Medallions and Scrap" auction in their premises on King William Street in Adelaide. There were 295 lots in the auction, of which about 85% were numismatic. The rest were sporting memorabilia or bags of scrap and broken jewellery. Australian sovereigns and half sovereigns dominated the lots and there was also a smattering of world gold and silver. World items of note included a couple of very nice Byzantine gold solidii, a lovely 1886 British Maundy set, and two lots of world silver coins that included some high grade coins for those willing to pick through the other rubbish.

We'd inspected the better grade Australian lots before the auction and the quality, was quite frankly, very poor. We doubt that 1 in 20 of the sovereigns was mint state, and not one of the half sovs we looked at was uncirculated. This was reflected in the prices realised with every sov fetching from $320 to $420. Halfs anywhere from $150-$220. Note that a 16.5% buyers premium applied on top of these prices so these bullion grade coins were hardly what we'd call bargains (you'd get most of them cheaper online if you looked around).

Items that did fetch some surprising prices included 3 holed and mounted Type 2 Adelaide Pounds in poor condition that got nearly $3000 each. The Great Britain 1886 maundy set fetched $500, probably double the expected price. And a 15ct gold racing trophy from 1936 (weighing 605 grams) saw some lively in-room and phone bidding and made the top price for an item at the auction at $17,000.

In conclusion the auction was quite entertaining and we're glad we attended and viewed the lots. Numismatically it was disappointing with few quality coins to be had. The bullion accumulator might have done well on some lots but our impression generally was that bullion grade coins were overpriced 10-20% compared with what the same items could be bought online. Still an enjoyable experience and we'll look forward to another auction by Theodore Bruce Antiques.

Released in a joint venture between the Royal Australian Mint and the Perth Mint the Triathlon $5 coin is one of 28 coins released to celebrate the 2000 Olympic Games held in Sydney, Australia as part of the Sydney 2000 Olympic Coin Program. Each coin represents one of the 28 different sports played in the 2000 Olympics.

This coin featuring the Triathlon was released as number 8 of 28. This series of coins were issued in several releases in the 3 years prior to the Games.

Sydney 2000 was the very first year triathlon competition was held at an Olympic Games consisting of walking, cycling and running events.

Approximately 100,000 of these Triathlon themed non-circulating legal tender (or NCLT) coins were released into the collector market at $8.95 each. This coin features the Ian Rank-Broadley effigy of Queen Elizabeth II. More information about this coin and the other 27 in the series can be found in the master article Sydney 2000 Olympic Games $5 Coin Collection. This coin weighs 20 grams and is 38.74mm in diameter features continuous edge milling. It is composed of Aluminium, Zinc and Bronze.

Released in a joint venture between the Royal Australian Mint and the Perth Mint the above coin is one of 28 $5 coins released to celebrate the 2000 Olympic Games held in Sydney, Australia as part of the Sydney 2000 Olympic Coin Program. Each coin represents one of the 28 different sports played in the 2000 Olympics.

This coin featuring the martial art Judo was released as number 7 of 28. This series of coins were issued in several releases in the 3 years prior to the Games.

The Japanese wrestling sport of Judo became an official Olympic sport in the Tokyo Games in 1964. Competition is held in different weight categories.

Approximately 100,000 of these Judo themed non-circulating legal tender (or NCLT) coins were released into the collector market at $8.95 each. This coin features the Ian Rank-Broadley effigy of the Queen. More information about this coin and the other 27 in the series can be found in the master article Sydney 2000 Olympic Games $5 Coin Collection. This coin weighs 20 grams and is 38.74mm in diameter features continuous edge milling. It is composed of Aluminium, Zinc and Bronze.

The "Coming Home" 20c features a young girl greeting her father on his return home from WWII. The design was modelled on a photograph from the Australian War Memorial and after a nationwide search it was found that the young girl in the design is Jaquie Dowling and her mother Lorna greeting Private William Leslie Darcy, an Ex Prisoner of War on his return home in 1945. War memorial historian Dr Peter Stanley worked closely with Royal Australian Mint engraver Vladimir Gottwald to bring this image to a circulating 20c coin. The reverse of the coin features Gottwald's stylised "G" below the "20".

This 20c coin was released in conjunction with a commemorative 50c and one dollar coin all into circulation during 2005 marking 60 years since the end of World War II. The obverse of these coins all feature the standard effigy of Queen Elizabeth II approved by Buckingham Palace by designer Ian Rank-Broadley.

This 20c is 11.30g and is 28.52mm in diameter with a fully reeded edge. It is made of Cupro-Nickel (75% copper and 25% nickel). 31,677,000 of these 20c were released into circulation and they can also be found in the mint and proof sets from 2005. Gold and silver versions also feature in the year precious metal sets.

The Brisbane ANDA Coin and Banknote Show was held last weekend, Saturday 21st and Sunday 22nd May 2011. The venue was the Brisbane Table Tennis Centre which is a spacious building with lots of good lighting for viewing. Parking was an issue for those who had driven or hired a car as the centre is surrounded by sporting fields. Weekend events and markets made the area exceptionally busy and parking spaces hard to come by. Friendly security staff greeted us at the door as we purchased our show tickets. The same staff were called into action during the show as we heard of a couple of items being stolen.

The Royal Australian Mint was in attendance with their portable press. There was a high demand for the counterstamped B Shilling Ram Dollar on Saturday morning but it really struggled for business on Saturday afternoon and most of Sunday. Also available was another *exclusive show product, the Brisbane Story Bridge (Capital Bridges series) frosted unc dollar, we don't collect such things so we cannot comment too much on it. There were (about) 5 rows of dealers with many of the friendly faces we've seen before and the Perth Mint stand was at the far end of the centre. Many dealers were happy and friendly enough to let us sit and go through their stock and we've added a few nice coins to our collections. We're particualrly excited about some decimal changeover medallions that we found with one in briliant mint red, but we might be the only people who care!

We managed to spend money with nearly all the dealers attending with a few exceptions. One in particular had silver coins that were all lovely blast white in appearance. Strangely enough they were also selling bottles of silver dip! To mention one dealer whom we think stood out as generally friendly, keen and all round good guy was Vic Power from VP Coins. He had a lovely variety of stock, well housed and his sales team was happy to show us and then offer us a good deal on our purchases. They also had a special show token for those who spent money at their stand. After our attendance at many shows in the last few years a lot of dealers know our faces and were happy to show us their wares and partake in some coin chat. The odd dealer is still of the opinion that we don't need to look at their material before we purchase it. Seems rather a strange attitude, to not want to let people look at your coins at a coin show!

The usual dealers attended the show, notably Waterman's Coins, Klaus Ford, Sterling and Currency, Colonial Coins, Universal Coin Co, Downies, IAG, Rare Coin Co, Monetarium Adelaide, Coinsearch, Eccles just to name a few. There were a few missing at this show Edlins, JPW and International Numis not attending the fair. Renniks had a stand also.

The Queensland Coin Clubs were in attendance with member displays hoping for a vote from show attendees, a friendly bunch are those folk. These included the Queensland branch of the Australian Numismatic Society, the Queensland Numismatic Society and the Redcliffe Coin and Phonecard Club. John Mulhall, editor of Australasian Coin and Banknote Magazine was also drumming up interest for magazine subscriptions and is always a friendly face to see. Auction viewing for the upcoming IAG auction was available also. Some stamp dealers could also be found. Usually the Saturday night of the show is the regular ANDA member meeting with this one electing a new president to take over from Steele Waterman who has now finished up his 2 year run. Andrew Crellin of Sterling and Currency has now taken over the reigns, a job not unfamiliar to him.

We had a whirlwind visit to a not-so-sunny Queensland flying in at 9am on Saturday morning and back out at 9pm on Sunday night but overall an enjoyable show for us.

The Purple Penny has B Counterstamp Shilling Ram one dollars available on their website, click on the image to see Guy, the RAM technician who struck the majority of the B counterstamps!

*exclusive? Advertised as exclusively available at the show but is available via the online RAM shop and selected coin dealers.

150 years ago legendary explorers Burke and Wills embarked on an expedition to be the first to traverse the country from south to north. The Royal Australian Mint released two commemorative coins remembering their fateful journey, a one dollar coin and this non-circulating 20c piece. Issued as a collector coin only and not into general circulation these coins are only found in the uncirculated and proof 2 coin sets of 2010.

The reverse design is by Wojciech Pietranik and shows the party setting out with a camel and horse and features human and animal footprints depicting the journey. The reverse also features Wojciech's WP initial. The obverse or heads side of the coin is the standard effigy of QEII by Ian Rank-Broadley. The 20c is the standard milled edge cupro-nickel type of 28.52mm weighing 11.31g.

This coin is one of many commemorative Australian 20c coins with some being released into circulation. For a complete list see our article The Complete Guide to the Australian 20c.

It's not often you see coins in the news but over the last couple of days information about an exciting horde of gold coins being discovered on a building site in Western Australia has surfaced. You can read more about it in various locations including on nineMSN, the ABC, and the Herald Sun. As is typical the different media stories are similar but do vary somewhat in the details. What appears certain is that 300-400 coins were discovered while excavating a car park and that the coins are over 100 years old.

The coins are described as sovereigns (worth 20 shillings or £1) dated 1800 in all the stories we've seen. Of course this isn't possible as no sovereigns were minted by Great Britain in 1800. What seems more likely is that the coins were minted in the 19th century and dated in the 1800's. The value of the horde is estimated generally at $500,000. At the time of writing the bullion value alone of 300-400 sovereigns is $100,000-$135,000. Of course, depending on the condition of the coins their numismatic value could well outweigh this considerably.

Commemorative coin releases quite often feature a relatively new technique known as pad printing. Coloured images, just like photographs often translate well to a coin design. The coin featured in this entry is the 1 oz Royal Wedding silver proof one dollar coin struck by the Perth Mint commemorating the nuptials of William and Kate. This design was officially approved by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and is limited to just 12,500 coins minted. The coloured design of the now Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are shown on a backdrop of the intricate detail of Westminster Abbey where they were married on April 29th 2011. The design is by Aleysha Howarth and the coin weighs 31.135g and is 40.6mm in diameter, much larger than the circulation one dollar. The process of striking this proof coin and the addition of the pad printed part of the design can be seen in this YouTube Video.

The answer is not right now but the idea never fails to provide a good story on a slow news day. Adelaide's Advertiser today announces on page 3 "Is it the end of 5c coins?" With inflation creeping up, the value of Australia's 5c coin just isn't as good as it used to be with the Advertiser citing examples that 5c can't even buy you 50ml of milk or half a slice of bread any more. Australia withdrew 1c and 2c coins in 1990 and New Zealand overhauled it's coinage and removed the 5c piece in 2005, so surely it's on the cards for Australia to do so....one day. The problem consumers would face then is their acceptance of a sort of rounding system that would end up costing us more and with higher costs from petrol to your power bill how will you cope? It costs the Royal Australian Mint 2.5c in metal composition value to produce each 5c coin. Add the cost of purchasing a coin blank and minting the coin design brings this cost to an estimated 3.6c per coin, hardly allowing for much margin of profit for the government.

The Sydney Morning Herald suggested almost 2 years ago that we were in for a major overhaul of our currency with a new portrait of Queen Elizabeth II in production. Obviously this didn't come to fruition. With all the Royal discussions in the media lately amidst William and Kate's Wedding who knows when the Queen passes away peacefully and a change of monarch ocurred. Would we then see the 5c disappear as we embrace a new King on the obverse of Australia's coins? The Royal Australian Mint CEO Mr Ross MacDiarmid confirms that there are "no current plans to change Australia's circulating currency mix".

*Addition 18/5/2011: The Royal Australian Mint must have been fielding many questions in the latest media frenzy and released this on their noticeboard soon after this article was written.

Designed by Royal Australian Mint sculptor Vladimir Gottwald the 2008 International Year of Planet Earth 20c was issued in the 6 coin mint set and in proof in the 2 coin proof set of 2008. It was also minted in (13.36g of) silver in the fine silver year set. These sets are the only way to obtain this non-circulating 20c coin design. It does feature all the same specifications as the standard platypus design made from cupro-nickel, weighing 11.3g and is 28.52mm in diameter with a milled edge.

The design theme incorporates "Earth sciences for society" proclaimed by the United Nations as 2008 was named International Year of Planet Earth. It's aim was to highlight the need for responsible use of the planet to ensure a safer and prosperous world. The Australian coin series which also featured a $1 commemorative coin design was issued to raise awareness of environmental and geological issues such as climate change affecting Australia and promote sustainability. This design in collaboration with Geosciences Australia is by Gottwald and features elements of nature around a map of Australia. It also shows Gottwalds initial "G" noting that he was the coin designer. The obverse features the standard portrait of Queen Elizabeth II by Ian Rank-Broadley.

The 2009 International Year of Astronomy twenty cents was issued by the Royal Australian Mint as a collector coin. The United Nations proclaimed 2009 International Year of Astronomy and this was the theme for the mint and proof sets issued by the RAM in that year. Special 2 coin sets were also issued to include this coin and the commemorative dollar coin released marking 400 years since Galileo's first astronomical observation through a telescope. The dollar cementing Australia's link with the depiction of the Parkes radio telescope.

This commemorative 20c features a reverse designed by Caitlin Goodall -her initials seen to the left of the smallest star-gazer. It depicts 3 star-gazers observing the night sky linking the vision of the IYA which is community involvement in "the universe, yours to discover" theme.

This uncirculated 20c is only found in the 2009 6 coin mint set and in proof in the 2009 2 coin proof set. It wasn't released into circulation which is termed NCLT or non-circulating legal tender. Made from cupro-nickel (75% copper and 25% nickel) this 20c is the standard 11.3g 28.52mm size with continuous edge milling. The obverse is the standard Ian Rank-Broadley effigy of the Queen.

For more information on other circulation and commemorative 20c releases see our entry The Australian 20c.

In 1995 the very first Australian commemorative 20c coin was released into circulation. It marked the 50th Anniversary of the United Nations, an international organisation helping to unite the world in peace, human rights, economic development, social progress and law. Each year the organisation focuses on important international affairs to raise awareness of these issues. A few important commemorative Australian coin issues have been to commemorate the work and focus of the United Nations.
For example,
2001 International Year of Volunteers One Dollar
2008 International Year of Planet Earth One Dollar
2009 International Year of Astronomy One Dollar

This 20c features the symbol of the United Nations sculpted by Royal Australian Mint designer Horst Hahne. Hahne is probably more well know as the designer of the Aboriginal on the Australian $2 coin. The reverse design features a circular map of the earth flanked by olive branches, a symbol of peace. The obverse is the Raphael Maklouf portrait of Queen Elizabeth II. 4,835,000 of these cupro nickel 20c were released into circulation so it's likely you've come across one in your change -the only way these were issued. Each weighs 11.31g, is 28.52mm in diameter, have continuous edge milling and are composed of 75% copper and 25% nickel.

For more on the entire circulation and commemorative 20c issues see our entry The Complete Guide to the Australian 20c.

For our previous entry Using Diffused Lighting for Coin Images we discussed using diffuse lighting and how this type of photography is reflected in the quality of the images.

Diffuse lighting is light softened and evenly spread so it does not pour directly onto the coin surface. This transparency can be achieved by the use of a light tent which can take on many forms. A light tent can be a fancy little foldable device (not dissimilar to a beach tent) available from a camera shop or eBay. It could be as simple as baking paper taped to the lamps. In our examples we cut down a 3L milk bottle to place over the coin and directed the light from the sides through the bottle. Whatever you decided to use, it need not be an expensive exercise as we've shown.

A recent topic on a coin forum lead me to investigate the use of diffuse lighting when taking some coin images. My experience suggests that diffuse lighting is only useful for imaging coins of a particular type. It tends to produce low contrast images, hide design details and bagmarks, and suppress coin lustre. On the plus side it gives a very even light source which means a consistent light level across the entire surface of the coin. I've found in the past that the best coins to image using diffused lighting are proofs with a cameo contrast between the devices and the fields.

I've taken images of three very different coins so we can examine the effect of using diffused lighting compared with our normal imaging setup.

Coin 1 : Australian 1959 Penny

As you'd expect the normal lighting setup produces a far superior image for this sort of red/brown bronze coin with minimal lustre. The lack of lustre means the diffuse light produces virtually no contrast and the design features are largely lost in the background of coin. The normal lighting setup gives a much more realistic image, with the coin lustre apparent and full design detail visible.

Coin 2 : Australian 2010 20c

Lustrous copper nickel coins with wear like the 20c above are difficult in the extreme to image correctly. The reflectivity combined with the bagging and wear typically makes the coin appear much worse when imaged that it actually is in hand. Seen above neither the diffuse nor normal lighting setup has done a good job of representing this coin. If anything I'd suggest that the diffuse lighting has produced a superior image but it is still a poor image. I've found that a variation of the tilted coin imaging technique I wrote about previously is the best way of imaging these lustrous copper nickel coins so I am not entirely surprised both lighting techniques used here performed poorly.

Coin 3 : Canadian 1971 $1

Above you can see a lovely, toned Canadian silver dollar. These coins have typically been stored in the felt lined cases they were issued in and this has lead to all sorts of coloured toning through the mirrored fields and frosted devices. The toning in the fields can often be quite blotchy and the mirror of the fields can wreak havoc on image quality if any direct lighting is used when imaging them. The image taken with the diffuse lights shows excellent cameo contrast and highlights the mirrors of the fields well. The normal lighting setup still shows the frosted effect on the devices, however the contrast with the fields is not as strong and the fields look blotchy and unattractive. The diffused lighting image is a much closer representation of the actual coin in hand.

Conclusions

Diffused lighting can be a useful tool in the coin photographers arsenal. However it is only suited to some types of coins and time must be taken to understand when it should be used. If used incorrectly it can produce unattractive images that do not represent a coin correctly. It can also hide lustre, coin detail, coin damage, wear, and bag marks. As a coin buyer you should learn to recognise images taken with diffuse lighting and be aware the coin may not be exactly as it appears.

The Perth Mint have recently published a list of mintages for their coin issues. It focuses mainly on precious metal legal tender issues of gold and silver coins and includes some (not all) uncirculated issues from 1986 onwards. A handy reference for those who want to check up on actual sales figures and compare those with mintage numbers.

The Perth Mint Numismatic Mintages

The Australian 20c coin is made from 75% copper and 25% nickel (cupro-nickel), is 28.52mm in diameter and weighs 11.31grams. It has a reeded edge. The standard circulation design is the platypus by Stuart Devlin and was first issued in 1966 at Australia's changeover to decimal currency. Below is a list of circulation and commemorative issues of the 20c piece.

Stuart Devlin's platypus 20c standard circulation design:
Coins released into circulation:
1966-1982, 1985-1987, 1994, 1996-2011
Coins released in mint sets only:
1986-1987, 1989-1993, 1995
There is conjecture over 20c coins issued in 1983, 1984 and 1988. Whilst coins were minted for circulation, most of these were melted down. It's unclear how many were actually released.

Commemorative Coins
1995 50th Anniversary of the United Nations 20c -circulation
2001 Sir Donald Bradman Tribute 20c -circulation
2001 Centenary of Federation State Series 20c
-New South Wales (NSW) 20c -circulation
-Australian Capital Territory (ACT) 20c -circulation
-Queensland (Qld) 20c -circulation
-Victoria (Vic) 20c -circulation
-Norfolk Island 20c -circulation
-Northern Territory (NT) 20c -circulation
-South Australia (SA) 20c -circulation
-Western Australia (WA) 20c -circulation
-Tasmania 20c -circulation
2003 Volunteers 20c -circulation
2005 60th Anniversary of WWII Coming Home 20c -circulation
2007 Surf Lifesaver 20c -NCLT
2008 Year of Planet Earth 20c -NCLT
2009 Year of Astronomy 20c -NCLT
2009 Australia Remembers Service Nurses 20c -NCLT
2010 Burke and Wills -NCLT
2010 Australia Remembers Fromelles 20c -NCLT
2011 Australian Wool 20c -NCLT
2010 Tax Office 20c -circulation
2011 The Ashes 20c -NCLT
2011 International Womens Day 20c -circulation
2011 Royal Wedding 20c -circulation
2011 Australia Remembers War Historians 20c -NCLT
2011 10th Anniversary of International Year of Volunteers 20c -circulation
2012 Fields of Gold Australian Wheat 20c -NCLT
2012 Bombing of Australia 1942 Lone Sentry (Shores Under Siege 3 coin Set) 20c -NCLT
2012 Bombing of Australia 1942 Air Raid Shelter (Shores Under Siege 3 coin Set) 20c -NCLT
2012 Merchant Navy Australia Remembers Series 20c -NCLT
2013 Australian Mining 20c (2 coin set)-NCLT
2013 Platypus Selectively gold plated proof 20c (2013 Proof Set)
2013 Platypus Hyper-metallic colour printed uncirculated 20c (2013 Mint Set)
2013 Canberra Centenary 20c -circulation
2013 25th Anniversary of Parliament House -NCLT
2013 Army Chaplains Australia Remembers Series 20c -NCLT
2013 Centenary of Australian Banknotes 20 cent (2 different coins in 3 coin set)
2013 The Ashes 20 cent -NCLT
2014 Australian Comforts Fund Australia Remembers Series -NCLT

Articles specific to the 20c piece include the Australian 20c Coins Value Part 1 entry, the Rare Australian Decimal Coins: Part Two- Extreme decimal rarities article which mentions 20c coins struck on a scalloped foreign planchet and a 20c struck on a bi-metal planchet.

All issues of the 20c were struck at the Royal Australian Mint in Canberra with just a few exceptions. In 1966 there are Canberra and London varieties which we've looked at in the entry Australian 1966 20c Mint Marks. One die variety minted in London is the rare 1966 Wavy Baseline 20c. The 1981 20c issues also have coins struck in Canberra, The Royal Mint in Wales and the Royal Canadian Mint.

There are also a number of articles in the Coin Errors and Misstrikes master index with specific examples of error 20c coins.
Split Planchet 20c
Clamshell 20c
Clipped planchet and partial collar 20c
Feeder finger jam 20c

Special events were held across the world last Friday April 29th as royal followers watched the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton, now the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge marry at Westminster Abbey.

Live sites were set up in capital cities where the public could watch on big screens the event unfold. One of these live sites was at Customs House Square in Circular Quay, Sydney. The Royal Australian Mint had a booth promoting new Australian coins released celebrating the Royal Wedding and a special "coin swap" program took place. The live sites big screens displayed a number to SMS and a code was received in reply. This code allowed the public to visit the RAM's booth, fill out a personal information card* and swap any 20c for a new 2011 Royal Wedding circulation 20c. 15,000** of these coins were swapped, each coin housed with a red card saying "I was at Circular Quay in Sydney to watch the Royal Wedding on 29 April 2011". The coin and card housed in a resealable polypropylene pocket (the author of this entry very impressed by the move away from damaging pvc packaging). The card issued with the coin seen above.

In Canberra on the morning after, Saturday April 30 the official coin launch took place at the Royal Australian Mint. The event featured a special devonshire morning tea, Royal coin collection valuations, speeches and for the first 1,000 people, the opportunity to swap 20c for a new circulating Wedding coin. Visitors had to make a purchase of the uncirculated Royal Wedding 50c from the coin shop to be eligible for the swap and the coin came without any special packaging.

*entrants consenting to their personal information being used by the RAM for future marketing and promotional purposes (Terms and Conditions of the swap).

**Actual mintage 7,738 RAM Annual Report 2010/11

Above you can see a lovely, glossy, lustrous Australian 1952 Half Penny. It's probably the most wildly toned bronze coin we've seen, and completely natural and typical of Perth minted bronze Australian coins. However, the image above doesn't do much to convey just how deep and wild the colours on this coin are. The image below gives a much better idea.

Believe it or not, the differences in setup between these two images were slight indeed. Yet the characteristics of the two images are completely different and the aspects of the coin character they convey are completely different. Firstly let's look at the difference in the actual physical setup used in the two images. This is shown in the (rather poor) image below.

As you can see, the only real visible difference between the setup used to take the two images is that the coin in the second image has been tilted to reflect the light directly into the camera lens. This is different from the normal imaging setup where a more diffused reflected light is picked up by the camera lens. While the differences in setup are small, there are changes required to the camera to enable it to take both images properly. By the way if you wanted to see the actual equipment we use to take our images rather than the cartoonish representation above you should take a a look at this entry on how we take our coin photos.

Horizontal Coin Images require a large amount of light because of the diffused reflection to the camera lens. If you do not have enough light then you'll need a long exposure time and will likely lose some sharpness in your image. So the more light you have the better. Image 1 was taken with the camera at f10 and with a shutter speed of 1/200th of a second.

Tilted Coin Images need to be taken at a high f stop. This is because the coin is tilted and a larger depth of field is required around the focal plane to ensure the whole coin is in focus. The higher f stop allows this. Higher f stops require longer exposures than lower f stops and thus a lot of light is needed again. However this is counteracted by the brightness of the light reflected from the coin and usually exposure times are less for tilted coin images compared with horizontal coin images. Image 2 was taken with the camera at f13 and with a shutter speed of 1/320th of a second. There is one additional aspect to the physical setup that may be required with tilted coin images. Often the very act of reflecting light directly from the coin surface into the barrel of your camera can cause glare across an area of the coin. The remedy to this is to diffuse the light from your light sources using some sort of diffusion screen.

The Characteristics of Horizontal Coin Images vs Tilted Coin Images

Characteristic	Horizontal Coin	Tilted Coin
Light	More	Less
f Stop	Lower f Stop	Higher f Stop
Exposure Speed	Slower	Faster
Coin Lustre	Realistic	Subdued
Colour	Subdued	Exaggerated
Image Contrast	Subdued	Exaggerated
Bag Marks	Subdued	Exaggerated and strongly contrasted

When to Use the Tilted Coin Technique
In our experience the tilted coin technique can be useful for imaging certain types of coins. We'd suggest that using it on the following types of coins can be an effective method of conveying the true character of a coin:

• Colourfully toned glossy copper or bronze
• Proof coins with mirrored fields, especially those with toned mirrors
• Some toned silver coins, but should be used with caution as it can remove the appearance of lustre

Conclusions
Using the tilted coin technique can be an effective method of showing the true colours of a toned coin right across the surface of the coin. When used in conjunction with what we'd call the 'normal' horizontal image of a coin it can help to convey the true nature of a coin. That being said, it can also produce exaggerated images with wild colours, subdued lustre, and what can appear to be severe bag marking. It should therefore be used with some degree of caution.

The Perth Mint presents this 4 coin uncirculated one dollar coin set celebrating 20 years of The Wiggles, the ever popular singing and dancing childrens entertainers. The colourised reverse designs depict Anthony Field, Jeff Fatt, Murray Cook, Sam Moran and also the colourful characters Dorothy the Dinosaur, Wags the Dog, Henry the Octopus and Captain Feathersword.

These four legal tender coins are of the one dollar denomination and feature the Ian Rank-Broadley portrait of Queen Elizabeth II on the obverse and the Perth Mints P mintmark on the reverse. They are not however the standard circulation size, significantly larger at 39.34mm. They are the same composition of aluminium bronze. Housed in specially guitar-shaped packaging each coin can be purchased separately ($15.95 each) or in a four coin set ($59.95) in a brightly illustrated shipper with a big red handle!

There is no mintage numbers available from the Perth Mint at this time, they will be minted to collector demand.

Arriving in your mailbox soon is the latest Mint Issue magazine from Australia's circulating coin producer, the Royal Australian Mint. The latest catalogue from the RAM gives us the first glimpse of the 20c circulating coin design for the Centenary of International Womens Day on March 8th 2011. The entire RAM minted Royal Wedding designs have now been released after the event last Friday. The most spectacular the Stuart Devlin designed Engagement 50c. The Wedding 20c soon to be found in your change! Some new gold issues, the first four coins in a 6 coin series celebrating the unique beginnings of modern Australia and the inclusion of significant historical convict sites in the UNESCO World Heritage list. Accentuating the fine silver set for 2011 this year is a second fine silver set of the Stuart Devlin designed 1c and 2c last seen in circulation 21 years ago. The baby mint set for 2011 is still available and the last year that Dorothy Wall will feature on the $1 coin -who will it be for next year?

Interestingly there is also a mention of the Royal Australian Mint's portable press being used in Adelaide for a counterstamp on a South African coin. You can read about that coin in your May issue of Australasian Coin and Banknote Magazine.