When it's in different packaging of course! The Perth Mint coin collector blog has been discussing this very issue recently with clarification from them that it is highly likely they'll mint more of an issue and release it in different packaging making low mintage coins not as sought after or not as rare as collectors were led to believe.

They'll reword their Certificates of Authenticity to read:

The Perth Mint will release no more than x,xxx of these coins in this packaging.

This lends them approval to mint more of the same coin at a later date and release it in different packaging or in a set with other coins as per the limits approved in the Currency Determinations which are not made public. These maximum approved mintages don't expire so a further striking of a 2012 coin could legally happen in 5 or 10 years time!

Collectors are already fuming with a backlash expected to hit the hip pocket of the Perth Mint.

The full discussion:
Total vs. Certificate mintages

It was back in January that news surfaced that we would have a new and exciting coin for circulation later this year. Well that time has come and the design has been unveiled. The new commemorative coin for circulation will be a $2 and there will be 2 versions (plus a C mintmark). One with a coloured poppy centre will be distributed through the RSL and a non-colourised version will be distributed through the usual channels of retailers and banks. We were under the impression the coloured version will be circulated but it's becoming clearer the "circulation"definition refers to it being circulated through the RSL.

500,000 coloured coins will be available through the RSL's Red Poppy Appeal and a production run of 5 million coins minted for circulation will be distributed in the coming months. A C mintmark 2012 Remembrance Popper $2 coin will also be available for collectors in special NCLT packaging and in an Australia Post Remembrance 2 Dollar PNC.

Australia has had the same design on the $2 coin since it's first issue in 1988, it's a breath of fresh air to see a different design and a fitting one at that for Remembrance Day 11/11 2012. Last year for 11/11/11 the 2011 Remembrance Day 5 Dollar Coin was released but a circulation coin can involve the public in what Remembrance Day is all about.

The sovereign is a highly collected gold bullion coin as well as many rare dates and high grades being keenly sought by the elite coin collector. The gold sovereign was and is minted for many countries including Great Britain, Australia, Canada and South Africa. It is also collected to hoard the commodity gold betting on a rise of the precious metal base price or the exchange rate making your gold stash more valuable. You might also be surprised by the amount of gold in a sovereign and that it does have considerable value as a bullion coin in any condition.

A gold sovereign contains .2354 troy oz of gold equivalent to 113.0016 grains and should weigh 7.322381g. Each is struck in 22 carat gold which is a fineness of .916.

Work out the value of your gold sovereign, half sovereign or other gold coins on the World Gold Coin Value calculator.

With the power of a little bit of internet magic we've worked out today's* bullion value of a gold sovereign at .

*yes, that's today's value and not the day this article was written. This value is updated every hour or so using the current gold price and exchange rates from Kitco.

The ten dollar Birds of Australia series silver coins were issued by the Royal Australian Mint from 1989 to 1994. They depict the Kookaburra, White Cockatoo, Jabiru, Penguin, Cockatoo and Wedge Tailed Eagle.

They were issued as standard proofs, piedfort proofs and a limited piedfort coin fair issue. The piedforts are twice as thick weighing twice as much as the standard proofs.

Whilst collectible in their own right they are often traded for their silver bullion content and it's this silver content that often determines the "going rate" of the coins being sold rather than the catalogue value. Thus a knowledge of the bullion trading price is important if you're going to trade in these coins.

They were minted in 92.5% silver and 7.5% copper (sterling silver). They all have edge reeding, are 34.1mm in diameter and weigh 20 grams each. Remember the Piedforts are twice this at 40 grams but the same diameter.

You can work out todays value of these and other silver coins using our Australian Silver Value calculator.

Or through a little bit of internet coding magic today's value of a Birds of Australia standard $10 silver coin is . This value is updated every hour or so using the current silver price and exchange rates from Kitco.

The bicentenary of the landing of the First Fleet was well commemorated in 1988. Many coins and medallions were issued for Australia's 200 years. The 1988 Australia 10 Dollar Bicentenary coin was produced by the Royal Australian Mint and is a very collectible coin not for it's numismatic value but for it's bullion silver content! These $10 silver coins simply don't appeal to many collectors for their value as a collectible coin so for the most part are traded as silver bullion. They have a face value of $10 but their silver value exceeds this and changes every day with the bullion silver price and the exchange rate.

The 1988 Australia $10 Bicentenary coin is similar to the State Series coins and the 10 dollar Bird Series. They were minted in both uncirculated and proof quality of 92.5% silver and 7.5% copper (sterling silver). They all have edge reeding, are 34mm in diameter and weigh 20 grams each.

You can work out todays value of this and other silver coins using our Australian Silver Value calculator.

Or through a little bit of internet coding magic the current value of a 1988 Bicentenary $10 silver coin is . This value is updated every hour or so using the current silver price and exchange rates from Kitco.

A lot of collectors use cardboard 2x2's for storing their coins. They come in two types either self adhesive or the staple type. Personally I have moved away from both kinds for a number of reasons to the more versatile Saflips but this article is to help those collectors and newbies determine the 2x2 sizes to purchase for each type of Australian coin.

The size suggestions below are just a guide and leave a small gap around each coin to allow for a comfortable fit of the coin in the holder and allow for you to view the edge of the coin. You can still of course use a slightly smaller size and you can always use a larger size to holder up the coins in your collection. The exception here is the suggested size for the 1937 and 1938 crown, the 39.5mm flip is the largest 2x2 size available. Again, these sizes are our experienced suggestions for use.

Australian Coin Type	Cardboard 2x2 Size (mm)
Australian 1 Cent	20
Australian 2 Cent	25
Australian 5 Cent	22.5
Australian 10 Cent	27.5
Australian 20 Cent	32.5
Australian 50 Cent	35
Australian 1 Dollar	27.5
Australian 2 Dollar	22.5
Australian Halfpenny	27.5
Australian Penny	35
Australian Threepence	20
Australian Sixpence	22.5
Australian Shilling	27.5
Australian Florin	32.5
Australian Crown 1937 and 1938	39.5

The ten dollar State Series of silver coins issued by the Royal Australian Mint are very collectible coins not for their numismatic value but for their silver content! These coins simply don't appeal to many collectors for their value as a collectible coin so for the most part are traded as silver bullion. They have a face value of $10 but their silver value exceeds this and changes every day with the bullion silver price and the exchange rate.

These coins were issued between 1985 and 1993, each year with the Coat of Arms of a different state of Australia. The Australian $10 dollar state series coins were minted in both uncirculated and proof quality of 92.5% sterling silver and 7.5% copper. They all have edge reeding, are 34mm in diameter and weigh 20 grams each.

You can work out todays value of this and other silver coins using our Australian Silver Value calculator.

Or through a little bit of internet coding magic the current value of the Australian 10 dollar state series coins is . This value is updated every hour or so using the current silver price and exchange rates from Kitco.

The Royal Mint in London along with a little help from the Royal Australian Mint struck the first coins for Papua New Guinea in 1975. Before this Papua New Guinea traded Australian currency and didn't have their own money.

The above coin is a Papua New Guinea 20 Toea, the equivalent to 20 cents. It has been struck by the Royal Mint with a serious error. There is a blank void on the obverse of the coin. The void is called an indent as there was something in the way when the coin was struck. The indent is 17.5mm in diameter which is very close to the diameter of the struck bronze Papua New Guinea 1 Toea coin (17.65mm). It's plausible and very probable that a blank planchet for a 1 Toea denomination contaminated the blanks as they fed into the press striking the cupro-nickel 20 Toea coins. The smaller blank planchet entered the chamber and was struck with the 20 Toea leaving it's blank impression of the coin.

The 1 Toea mate to this error would appear with the Papua New Guinea official emblem the Bird of Paradise seated on a Kundu drum -the missing portion of this error, and would be blank on the opposite side. It's likely though that this error mate got picked up and never left the Mint at all.

These full indent errors occur very infrequently with an Australian penny currently on eBay and a 2002 Outback one dollar seen here. Partial indents are more common with brockages or without.

Technically known as a die adjustment strike, touch strike or a weak strike error due to less than optimal strike pressure this coin error is sometimes mistaken for a filled die. The reason we know it's a low pressure strike is because the pattern of weakness is uniform on each side of the coin. The type of strike usually results in the highest relief parts of the coin, the portrait and the kangaroo, being struck more strongly but the outer edges, the lowest relief part are where the weakness is most prominent. If it were an oil or grease filled die the weakness would be present in one area and probably just on one side or possibly the whole of one side.

A coin struck with low pressure could be a test strike by technicians finding the correct tonnage pressure to set the press at for the production run. It also may happen if there is a press malfunction somewhere along the minting run.

Read more about this error type in our earlier article Die Adjustment Strike Coin Errors.

Another example, this time a 1952 Melbourne Mint penny.

In recent months a new Australian 50 cent coin variety has been discovered by coin noodlers*. This new variety is an Upset Coin Error which means that the obverse and reverse dies were not aligned correctly when the coins were struck. Normally Australian coins are minted in medallic alignment, which means that the obverse and reverse sides of the coins are the same way up. Determining the degree of upset of these types of errors can be difficult. However, in the case of the 2010 upset 50 cent coin the degree of upset is easily determined because of the unusual dodecagonal (12 sided) shape of the coin. Any upset Australian 50c must be some multiple of 30 degrees unlike the 2001 Centenary of Federation one dollar upset error which is found in pretty much every degree of rotation.

It's clear from the image above that the 2010 upset 50c error is 30 degrees upset. 30 degrees is equivalent to one of the sides of the Australian 50c coin. One can only speculate as to the reasons for the manufacture of this error. We would imagine that the coining dies are keyed to prevent them being installed out of alignment, so perhaps in this case the die was not keyed and it was installed incorrectly. Alternatively perhaps it was keyed but when the production die was hubbed perhaps it was out of alignment then.

Whatever the cause of this error it's an interesting one and the mintage is likely to be only one production die run or less. This could mean that just 200,000 or less of this variety exist. At the time of writing examples of this variety have been selling on eBay for $50-$70. There might be some good potential growth in the value of this variety, especially if you can find an uncirculated example (or examples) to put away for a few years.

*Coin noodlers are collectors who withdraw thousands of coins from their bank and look through them looking for known errors and varieties. They then take the searched coins back to another bank and then repeat the process. Sometimes, such as in this case, they discover new varieties.