Australia 1 Dollar 1984 Wrong Planchet Error
Father Christmas must have thought I’d been very very good this year with a surprise present that is truly spectacular. Adding to my personal collection of one dollar coins and errors this 1984 one dollar is struck on an Australian 10c planchet.
1984 was the first year of issue of the one dollar coin after the $1 note was removed and a plentiful 185,985,000 were issued into circulation. This one dollar coin is struck on a cupro-nickel planchet intended for a 10c piece, underweight at 5.6g for a dollar hence the slight weakness near the rims on the coin. A regular dollar coin weighs 9 grams.
A survey of public auction results over the last 5 years indicates 7 known coins of this type and date in collector hands realising from $700 to $4,000 each. It’s also a major error noted in Ian Hartshorns book “Australian Pocket Change Varieties & Errors Common, Scarce & Rare”. This coin we believe is the first to be graded by PCGS as mint state MS64 or choice uncirculated. It is easily recognisable because of the cud representing a tear on the Queen’s cheek which the other examples appear not to have.
It’s probable that a handful or more of copper-nickel wrong planchets got mixed in with the aluminium bronze blanks striking one dollar coins and the resulting coins were fed through the system without being detected as has happened on other occasions with denominations such as 10c on 5c planchets or 20c on 10c planchets. This coin however a little more spectacular a one dollar on an off-metal planchet thus giving a silvery appearance!
