Australian Shillings
The Australian Shilling was minted from 1910 to 1963. It has 2 distinct reverse designs. The Australian Coat of Arms 1910-1936 and then a ramshead design from 1938-1963. When collecting the Australian 1s you should always attempt to purchase the best quality or grade coin that you can afford at the time. Then as the years go by and you come across better examples you can upgrade your collection slowly. This can be a very rewarding experience. Understandably the earlier year coins can be quite rare and very pricey in the higher grades, so just obtaining that year may be a challenge. A challenge the keen collector will take on with excitement.
There are different high wear points in each type of coins design. The collector should always have some idea about this when purchasing their coins and not rely on another persons grade solely. Sellers coins can sometimes be overgraded and when you go to sell they may be undergraded. This is why a PCGS graded Australian shilling is desirable for those not confident or familiar with grading a coin or understanding problems such as cleaning.
A very useful reference is a small guide printed by ANDA (Australian Numismatic Dealers Association). Called “Collecting Australian Commonwealth Coins” it has some fantastic general coin issue information as well as a guide to grading coins yourself.
Collecting Australian Commonwealth Coins
Grading Australian Commonwealth Coins
