There’s been an interesting development regarding the gold plated 2015 50 cent coin we mentioned in this blog entry. Released for the 50th birthday of the Royal Australian Mint the coin will have a total mintage of 22265 (mirroring the 2/2/65 opening date of the RAM) and it was first available at an open day at the RAM in Canberra on 21 February 2015. It turns out that the coins released on that open day were in slightly different packaging than the standard coins, the RAM Open Day coins including the text “OPEN DAY 21 February 2015” in white on a gold background on the left of the reverse side of the packaging.
Of course it’s only different packaging to the normal release but coin collectors being what they are, these coins in different packaging have already started appearing on the secondary market (eBay and various Facebook coin sales groups and Downies). Prices right now seem to be about $40-$50 on auction sites and it’s $39.95 from Downies. Not a bad little profit for enterprising collectors who got along to the RAM Open Day!
