The 19th edition of the Pocket Guide to Australian Coins and Banknotes by Greg McDonald is just about to hit the shelves again in full colour just in time for Christmas. It advertises new for this issue all Perth Mint mintage figures from 1986. This information is easily obtained as it has been published by the Perth Mint on their website.
In a shock move, the author Greg McDonald has announced that after the Perth Mint dramatically reduced their standard order for the 2012 edition pocketbook, he will, from the following edition (20th) remove Perth Mint products in a complete overhaul of the coin collectors "bible".
This overhaul, in removing the Perth mint legal tender coin issues will allow for expanded and new information on historical items such as early pre-decimal proofs, superscribed and pre-decimal specimen banknotes without adding size to the handy portable catalogue.
I'm in two minds about whether this will be a good or bad move for the pocketbook. On one hand I personally get minimal benefit from having Perth Mint products in the pocket guide and an expanded pre-decimal section would benefit me greatly. Although catalogue pricing on some issues often doesn't reflect buying prices or value. I find from chatting with collectors and seeing what they buy that there is continued and strong interest for NCLT decimal issues and not so much in pre-decimal coins. In this respect removing Perth Mint products from the pocket guide could see the author shooting himself in the foot.
What do other collectors think? Contact us at admin@australian-threepence.com.
Posted by harrisk at December 1, 2011 8:28 AM
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