Today we’re looking at 5 rare Australian coins that are worth money, enough money that you’d better be looking at your pocket change or you could actually be letting hundreds of dollars slip through your fingers. Of course these aren’t the ONLY coins you can find in your change that are worth real money, but they are those that you’ve got some chance of actually finding. So how much money are we talking about here? Well, anywhere from 30 times face value to 40,000 times face value. Surely that’s more than enough incentive for anyone to take a look at the coins that pass through their hands!
The 2007 Double Obverse (Head) 5 Cent
2007 Double Obverse (Head) 5 Cent Coin
Number 1 on our list of Australian Coins that are worth real money is the Double Header 2007 5 Cent. They are the product of a mint worker deliberately pairing two 2007 heads (obverse) dies and then running the press to mint several hundred or possibly even several thousand coins. Worth $1500+ it’s worth anyone’s time to look at all 2007 dated 5 cent coins and spin them between your fingers and see if they’ve got two heads showing and if those Queen’s heads are rotated 180 degrees. If so, get yourself off to a good coin dealer and get that bad boy authenticated! Read this article to learn more about the 2007 double header 5 cent.
The Year 2000 $1/10c Mule
A Valuable Mule Dollar Found in Change
The Year 2000 $1/10c Mule is the number 2 on our list of Australian Coins that are worth money. The result of an accidental pairing of a 10 cent heads (obverse) die and the normal mob of roos reverse die it’s thought that between 5000-10000 of these coins were minted. Worth from $300-$500 even after circulating for 20 years it’s time well spent looking out for them!
The 1966 Wavy Baseline 20 Cent
Wavy Baseline (Left), Regular Coin (Right)
The Wavy Baseline 20 cent dated 1966 is quite obvious from the wavy baseline on the number 2 on the tails side of the coin. Of course not all 1966 20 cent coins exhibit this feature but the very small fraction that do are worth $250 or more even. That’s even if they have spent more than 50 years circulating since decimal currency was released in 1966! To determine if your 1966 20 cent is a valuable wavy baseline example take a look at our feature article on the coin.
The Year 2010 Upset 50 Cent
Australia 2010 Upset 50c
Some time during the production run of 2010 50 cent coins a coin press operator installed the obverse or reverse die incorrectly. As a result the obverse (heads) side of some coins is rotated 30 degrees from the reverse (tails) side of the coin. It’s thought that perhaps 200,000 of these coins were manufactured and each is worth $50 or more. Read our article featuring the upset 50 cent coin for more information about this interesting and valuable Australian coins.
The Year 2000 Incuse Flag 50 Cent
Year 2000 Incuse Milennium 50 Cent
The year 2000 Millennium 50 cent was released with a fairly difficult to spot die variety. Our article on the variety describes in some detail how to spot the die variety which is called the “Incuse Flag Millenium 50 cent”. Basically the Cross of St. Andrew (the cross with a horizontal and vertical bar) on the Union Jack is incuse or sunk into the coin rather than in relief (sticking out of the surface of the coin) for the normal version of the coin. Worth $50 even circulated the incuse flag 50 cent of the year 2000 is the last of our Australian coins that are worth money.
Other Resources on Valuable Australian Coins
If you’re looking for more information about valuable Australian coins take a look at our article on the top 10 rare Australian Decimal Coins!
