The 14th of February 1966 was ‘C Day’, when Australia changed from the pounds, shillings, and pence system to a decimal system of dollars and cents. It was a massive event with shopping tills and calculators across the country needing to be modified or replaced, the government had to have more than a billion new coins minted and ready to be sent into circulation, and the public had to be extensively educated in the new decimal system. Preparation had begun years before with the new mint opening in Canberra in 1965. Because Australia needed so many new coins, decimal coins for 1966 were minted in London, Melbourne, Perth, and the brand new Royal Australian Mint (RAM) in Canberra. 1991 was the 25th anniversary of the introduction of decimal currency in Australia and the RAM chose to celebrate with an attractive commemorative 50 cent coin that was released into circulation.

Decimal coins in 1991 had the Raphael Maklouf portrait of Queen Elizabeth II on the obverse. The reverse of this commemorative coin was designed by RAM master sculptor Horst Hahne using the rams head from the Australian shilling which was minted from 1938 to 1963 and his own legend which reads “50 Cents : 25th Anniversary of Decimal Currency”. The rams head is a depiction of that originally sculpted by George Kruger Gray. 4,704,000 of these coins were struck in copper nickel for circulation, another 169,557 to brilliant UNC standards for mint sets, and 41,590 in proof for the 1991 proof sets. 25,000 were also struck in sterling silver for the 1991 Masterpieces in Silver set.

The 1991 25th Anniversary of Decimal Currency 50c is one of the lowest mintage circulating commemorative 50c coins and as such you don’t often see them in your change. There were still nearly 5 million of them made though, so it is by no means a scarce coin and only really worth more than face value if it is uncirculated, when it is worth $7-$10. A proof cupro nickel coin might fetch up to $20 while the sterling silver coin from the Masterpieces in Silver set can be had for $30. Interestingly security rolls of this coin are quite scarce and do fetch decent prices of $150 and up.

The 1982 Commonwealth Games 50c coin released to commemorate the Commonwealth Games which is an elite sporting event held every 4 years and participant nations come from the Commonwealth of Nations (which was formerly the British Empire). The games have been held since 1930 (when they were known as the Empire Games) and changed name several times until 1978 when they finally became known as the Commonwealth Games. Australia had held the games twice until 1982 when they were held in Brisbane (the 12th Commonwealth Games). As a child at the time of the Brisbane Commonwealth Games I clearly remember the huge winking kangaroo, Matilda, that made it’s way around the stadium during the opening ceremony. Putting aside the memories of childhood the games in Brisbane were a very popular event in Australia, with Australia and England having an exciting head to head contest at the top of the medal tally board. To celebrate such a large sporting event the RAM issued an attractive 50c coin into circulation which can be seen above.

The obverse of the 12 sided, 15.5 gram, cupro nickel 50c coin coin bears the standard young portrait of Her Majesty as sculpted by Arnold Machin. The reverse of the coin was designed by Stuart Devlin. The reverse design shows the logo of the 1982 Brisbane Commonwealth Games over a map of Australia surrounded by icons representing 12 of the sports conducted during the games. The legend around the reverse reads “XII Commonwealth Games Brisbane 50 Cents”. 23,287,000 of the coins were struck for circulation, a further 195,000 in brilliant UNC condition for mint sets, and 100,000 were struck to proof standards for the 1982 proof sets. The coin was also struck in silver for the 1989 Masterpieces in Silver set, but was dated 1989 and had the newer Raphael Maklouf obverse.

Like the 1970 Captain Cook 50c, the 1981 Charles and Diana 50c and the 1977 Silver Jubilee 50c the 1982 Commonwealth Games 50c was hoarded away in great numbers in the hope that they would someday be worth a fortune. Tragically that day has yet to arrive and you can easily buy a nice uncirculated coin for just $4. A coin from a mint set may fetch a couple of dollars more. A pristine proof 1982 50c could fetch about $20 while the silver coin from the 1989 Masterpieces in Silver set would get about the same. If you’re lucky enough to find a circulated 1982 Commonwealth Games 50c in your change please buy yourself a very small chocolate bar with it because it’s worth exactly 50c!

Queen Elizabeth II ascended to the throne of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth in 1952 after the death of her father George VI. Interestingly she was not actually crowned until 1953. 1977 was the 25th anniversary of her ascension (the ‘silver jubilee’),and celebrations were held throughout the UK and the British Commonwealth, with the official day of celebration set as February 6, 1977. The Royal Australian Mint joined in on the party with the released the 1977 50c, a commemorative 12 sided, 15.5 gram, cupro nickel coin for general circulation.

The obverse of the coin bears the standard young portrait of Her Majesty as sculpted by Arnold Machin. The reverse of the coin (like all other decimal coins up until 1986) was designed and sculpted by Stuart Devlin. A typical royal design by Devlin (similar to some of his other work in silver) it comprises 25 crowns in a ring around a central device and the legend “Silver Jubilee 50 Cents”. 25 million of the coins were struck for circulation, a further 128,000 in brilliant UNC condition for mint sets, and 55,000 were struck to proof standards for the 1977 proof sets. The coin was also struck in silver for the 1989 Masterpieces in Silver set, but was dated 1989 and had the newer Raphael Maklouf obverse.

Like many of the early commemorative 50c coins the Silver Jubilee coins were hoarded away in great numbers, and you can easily buy a nice uncirculated coin for just $4 or $5. A coin from a mint set may fetch a couple of dollars more. A pristine proof 1977 50c could fetch $20 to $30 while the silver coin from the 1989 Masterpieces in Silver set would get about the same. A circulated 1977 Silver Jubilee 50c coin is worth, somewhat sadly, 50c.

Prince Charles is the eldest child of Queen Elizabeth II, first in line to the throne and potentially the next King of England and the Commonwealth. Nuptials between Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer took place on 29th July 1981 (which was named a national holiday in celebration) in front of a worldwide TV audience of 750 million people. It was labelled a fairytale wedding as Diana was the first British commoner to marry an heir to the throne since the 1500’s. The couple were dominant public figures constantly under scrutiny from royal watchers. They later had 2 children, 2nd in line to the throne Prince William and 3rd in line Prince Harry.

In Australia up until as close to the event as June 1981 it wasn’t clear that a commemorative issue was even going to be released with industrial action at the Royal Australian Mint affecting coin issues and the minting process. However, after keeping their plans under wraps the RAM finally announced that to celebrate this royal marriage the Royal Mint in Wales was to strike a commemorative 50c piece to circulate in Australia. Designed by Stuart Devlin the reverse of this coin features profiles of Charles and Diana (known as jugate) facing left with the legends reading “HRH The Prince of Wales and Lady Diana Spencer Fifty Cents”. This was an official design given the Royal seal of approval by the Queen but is affectionately known to collectors as the Chuck and Di 50c.

The obverse bears the Arnold Machin portrait of a young Queen Elizabeth II (used from 1966 through to 1984). 20 million of these 15.5 gram cupro-nickel coins entered circulation but they are not that easy to find in your change as a lot have been hoarded in money boxes and jars. It’s not uncommon to find high grade coins because if this hoarding and they don’t gain much premium if any over their face value of 50c.

These coins were restruck in Canberra as a silver proof version which was included in the 1989 Masterpieces in Silver Sets.

The Royal Australian Mint issued the first commemorative coin of of the decimal era in 1970 to celebrate the bicentenary of the navigation of Australia’s east coast by Captain James Cook. Cook is sometimes credited with the discovery of Australia but in reality the existence of Australia had been well known to Europeans for several hundred years. In command of his first voyage which left England in 1768 Cook visited Tahiti and New Zealand. He set off from New Zealand intending to sail north of Van Diemen’s Land (now known as Tasmania) and straight for Cape Town at the southern extreme of Africa. Instead he hit the coastline of Australia on the north of the State of Victoria in April 1770. Charting the coast northward he reached the northern extremity of Australia at Cape York in August before finally setting course for Cape Town in South Africa which he reached in 1771.

The obverse of this coin bears the Arnold Machin portrait of a young Queen Elizabeth II. This portrait was used from 1966 through to 1984. The reverse features Cook, a map of Australia and a dotted line depicting the voyage up the east coast. It was sculpted by Stuart Devlin, who at the time had designed the reverses of all Australian decimal coins. The Captain Cook 50c is the 12 sided dodecagonal shape with a plain edge. Made from cupro-nickel (75% copper and 25% nickel) it weighs 15.55 grams at 31.51mm in diameter. 16 million of the coins were released into circulation and 550,000 were struck to specimen standards and sold in red plastic cases through banks and the RAM. About 15,500 coins were struck to proof standard for the 1970 proof sets and another 40,000 brilliant uncirculated coins were issued in the 1970 mint set. 70 special presentation sets containing two proof coins were also produced.

Because of the relatively large mintage of the 1970 Captain Cook 50c, because the public hoarded the coins in great numbers and because half a million of the coins were issued in specimen standard it’s not that hard to find these coins in uncirculated condition. They are, therefore, not particularly valuable. Specimen coins in their original red plastic cases can be found for just $10, while regular uncirculated coins might be bought for just $5 or so. Proof coins are worth quite a bit more ($50) but you’d need to be very lucky to find one of these without breaking up a proof set. A circulated coin pulled out of your change is worth….50c!

So you’re interested in collecting Australian coins and want to know how to get started? Here’s our top 10 tips for the new collector of Australian coins.

1. It’s often said about collecting coins, and I’ll repeat it now. Buy the book before you buy the coin. Get yourself one of the two well known Australian coin catalogues, either McDonalds or the Renniks catalogue.
2. Take a deep breath and calm down. There’s no rush to get in there and start buying right now. Take the time to see what’s available, what interests you, the different ways you can purchase and the different places you can purchase.
3. Try to visit a coin shop. Look at coins up close, hold them, look at RAM products and how they are packaged. Coin collecting is very tactile and visual, and while the Internet has given coin collectors the opportunities to purchase more easily than ever before it can be a remote and unemotional process. Entering a coin shop for the first time can be a huge thrill!
4. Don’t get excited or caught up the dreaded auction frenzy when buying coins from sites such as eBay. Recently people were paying more than $100 for coins that cost $3 from the RAM in Canberra. These same coins will be minted ALL YEAR and be available ALL YEAR for $3 from the mint. I pity people who paid that much money for a coin that will be worth $4-5 by the end of the year.
5. Try to wait a year before buying current issue RAM products. It’s not unusual to see mint sets and proof sets to be selling on eBay and similar sites for well under issue price the year after they are issued.
6. Make sure you store your collection the right way from day one. If you collect RAM product then make sure it’s kept protected in storage boxes away from prying little hands. It seems silly but a proof set with a daggy damaged box but perfect coins will always sell for less than one with a pristine box. If you’re collecting individual coins make sure you choose a PVC free storage solution for them, it’s no more expensive and you’ll stop your coins from being ruined in the long run.
7. If you’ve decided to collect pre-decimal coins then you need to learn to grade. Now. No, not later, now! If you don’t take the time to learn to grade then you’re going to be at the mercy of the seller of the coin and the grade he or she assigns to a coin. When just one or two grades difference can mean tens, hundreds, or even thousands of dollars in difference in value you can see it’s well worth your time! The ANDA Grading Guide for Commonwealth Coinage is a good place to start, as is a dealers stock book. If you don’t want to learn to grade you could just collect slabbed Australian coins but even then you SHOULD learn to grade so you know what you’re buying.
8. Don’t think you’re ‘investing’ in a coin unless you are highly knowledgeable about the market, the coin series and can grade the coin accurately. If you’re not all of these things you’re just speculating and just as likely to do your dough as make money. Even if you are all of these things sometimes you’re just speculating in a more educated fashion!
9. Get involved with the coin collecting community, you’ll pick up handy tips, make friends and keep abreast of the current market conditions. Coin clubs, online coin forums and coin shows are ideal ways of getting involved. Coin collecting is by it’s nature a solitary hobby and if you make the time to talk to others it is entirely more enjoyable.
10. Remember it’s supposed to be fun. If the hobby stops being fun the step back and re-evaluate what you’re doing. If you’re worried about financial returns then it’s not a hobby and you should examine your motivations. If a collecting theme is boring you then look for another. If you’re out of money look for a coin collecting book to read instead!