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Collecting Coins Of Australia
Coin collecting can be a rewarding, challenging, educational, or evenprofitable for some collectors.Australian coins pose a more interestingchallenge for those coin collectors who are looking for something a bitdifferent to collect. Being colonized by the British in 1788 and having apopulation of around 23 million people, Australia has both a rich but shorthistory with relativelysmall mintage figures comparedto othercountries.Many of these coins are becominghighly desirable acquisitions tocollectors worldwide.One excellent example is the Proof 1030Australiancopperpenny which is estimated to be worthbetween $1 million and $1.3million. This makes this coin one of the most valuable copper coins inexistence today. It was the mining boom of the late 19th century and early20th century which saw the need for a more stable and reliable currency for the new boomingeconomy of early Australia.There are a number of these coin series available to the collector.They fallinto the categories listed below:
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Colonial coinage whichis referred to as the Proclamation series(1788-1825).
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Pre-decimal coins (1910-1964).
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Decimal coins (1966 to present).
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Sovereigns and Half Sovereigns (1853 to 1931).Below is listed a brief outline of each series as well as a very roughestimate of what it will cost you to acquire them. This will give you an ideaof how much you will need tobudget to collectthese coins. For thebeginning collector this will give him or her a realistic expectation of whatthey can afford.
Colonial Coins
In the early days of Australiancolonization, a mishmash of coins fromaround the world were being used with no real currency systems in place.This resulted in a severe shortage of money. As the citizens purchasedgoods from foreign traders the coins would be taken offshore. To combatthis trend, the Governor of New South Wales, Philip King announced adecree in 1800. What his decree did was to createa list of coins whichwould be recognized as having specific values whilst on Australian soil.The values were intentionally valued higher than their face value toencourage the traders to spend them while they were still in Australia rather than taking them offshore where they would be accepted at a lower value.Most collectors attempt to collect the coins listed in theProclamation,hence the name Proclamation Coins.Many of the coins listedin the proclamation were some of the most trustedand highly minted coins of the day, and were often accepted all over theworld. s such this series is easy tocollect in average circulated grades withsome available in uncirculated condition,The most expensive coins of thisseries will be those made of gold. This is more a reflection of gold'scurrenthigh spot market prices, rather than the rarity of the coins themselves. Thecoins listed in the Decree include:
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English Guinea
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Indian Gold Mohur
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Spanish dollar or Eight-Reals
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Ducat
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Rupee
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Indian Pagoda
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Dutch Guilder
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English 1787 Shilling
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Cartwheel penniesCoins in this series will range from as little as $40 in very worn condition to$4,000+ for complete set in average circulated condition.Pre-decimal Australian CoinsThis is a popular series for the beginning or serious collector. Most of thecoins in this series should be available to most budgets. Most collectorsdon't attempt to collect the entire pre-decimal set, but instead focus on thedifferent denominations. There are seven denominations minted between1919 and 1964:
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Halfpennies--1911-1964.
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Pennies--1911-1964.
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Threepence--1910-1964.
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Sixpence--1910-1963.
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Shilling--1910-1963.
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Florin--1910-1963.
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Crown--1973 & 1938.
pursueyour interest in collecting Australian coins. Information on aninexpensive guide can be found at this link:http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art302712.asp
