Australian Coins

When you say "Silver", do you mean made of silver or, silver in appearance? Does the coin have a denomination marked on it? I can only find two Australian coins with "eagles" on them and neither of them are dated 1983.

"Most" coins of the world were never made of silver. There were always more minor coins made of copper, nickel, bronze, aluminum, etc. The larger coins of most countries contained at least some silver until the 1960s when the price of silver made almost all of them more valuable for their metal content than their stated denomination. The US eliminated silver in all coins in 1965 except for the Kennedy half dollar and it was reduced from 90% to 40% silver until 1972 when it also became a cupro-nickel alloy. Mexico and Canada had reduced the silver content of their coins even earlier, but kept a small percentage of silver in some coins for a few more years.

The Australian Coat of Arms does not appear on the Centenary of Federation Five Dollar note.

On the standard issue Five Dollar note, it appears as a "shadow image" which can be seen if you hold the note up to good light.

The Coat of Arms can just be seen if you look at the space between the gum leaves and the vertical writing of "Australia", level with the Queen's forehead.

The Australian currency had not long been established at the outbreak of WW1 in 1914 and there was still many British coins in circulation.

The Australian currency from 1910 to 1966 was based on the British Imperial system of Pounds, Shillings and Pence. 12 Pence to the Shilling and 20 Shillings to the Pound.

The silver coins including the Threepence, Sixpence, Shilling and Florin were introduced in 1910, followed by the copper coins including the Penny and Halfpenny in 1911.

Banknotes were introduced in 1913 and included the Ten Shilling, One Pound, Five Pound and Ten Pound notes.

All of the above denominations were in use until the changeover to decimal currency in 1966.

Further notes were introduced in 1914 including the Twenty Pound, Fifty Pound, One Hundred Pound and One Thousand Pound notes. These notes did not last long and were all withdrawn by the early 1940's. The One Thousand Pound note was only used to settle debts between banks.

I am unfamiliar with the reference to "centre diamond" on an Australian George V Penny. Please provide more information.

You do not give any dates or detail.

Any coin with a "genuine" minting flaw would have some value, above the usual, as a collectible coin.

Genuinely flawed coins are not necessarily known about or documented until somebody turns up with one, since they are an "accident" of the minting process, and have escaped detection during quality control at the mint therefore, a valuation cannot be anticipated.

A reputable coin dealer should be able to identify and confirm the coin as genuine and make a valuation.

Flaws and errors on coins should not be confused with mutilation or mangling of the coin.

John Stone was the Secretary to the Treasury from 8-Jan-1979 to 14-Sep-1984 inclusive.

Australian One Dollar notes with his signature were printed in 1979 and 1982.

John Stone should not be confused with Robert Johnston who was governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia from 1982 to 1989.

The alloy of Australia's circulating decimal "silver" coins (the 5¢, 10¢, 20¢ and 50¢) is actually 75% copper and 25% nickel.

The Australian 10 cent coin was "invented" in the early 1960's when the Australian Government of the day decided that Australia would change to a decimal currency.

It was first issued on the 14th of February, 1966.

The first coins to be minted in Australia were not Australian coins and were used as a temporary measure to relieve the otherwise cash strapped colonies. Governor Lachlan Macquarie acquired about 40,000 Spanish Dollars in 1812. The centres were punched out producing two coins, the Holey Dollar valued at 5 Shillings and the "Dump" valued at 15 Pence.

Prompted by the discovery of gold, the Sydney Mint opened on 14th of May, 1855, as a branch of the Royal Mint. The opening of the Sydney Mint resulted in a reduction of the amount of gold being exported and an increase in the gold coins in circulation in Australia.

Since Australia did not exist as a country until 1901, the only official coins in Australia prior to 1910, were British coins.

There are gold One Sovereign and Half-Sovereign coins dated from 1853 to 1866 with AUSTRALIA and SYDNEY MINT on them.

By the early 1870's, the Melbourne, Perth and Sydney Mints were producing gold coins for Britain.

There were Trade Tokens minted for various businesses as early as 1852, probably much earlier, but these were not official currency, and could only be used at the business of the issuer.

The first Australian coins to be minted in Australia after Federation were the Threepence, Sixpence, Shilling and Florin all minted at the Melbourne Mint in 1916.

Australian currency did not exist in 1830, we were using mostly British currency but, due to a shortage of British currency, we used anything we could get our hands on. Australia used coins from a variety of countries, modified in some fashion and with an agreed value within the colonies. One of the best known of these was the "Holey Dollar" and the "Dump". The Holey Dollar started out as Spanish Dollar with the centre punched out and both overstamped. The Spanish had carelessly left many of these laying around where any British warship could seize them. The Holey Dollar was worth 5 shillings when circulated in the Colonies and the Dump was worth 15 pence.

You are asking about a 20 cent coin from Australia (KM#403). It weighs 11.3 grams, measures 26.87mm in diameter, and is made of copper-nickel. The front bears an image of Queen Elizabeth II, wearing a tiara and facing right, with "ELIZABETH II" to the left and "AUSTRALIA 1999" to the right. The has an image of a duckbilled platypus swimming in the water, with a large "20" in the upper right quadrant. The edges of the coin are reeded. 64,181,000 such coins were made for circulation in 1999; in Brilliant Uncirculated, an example is worth about US$0.80. Otherwise, the exchange value of the Australian dollar (as of May 10, 2011) means its face value is about 21 US cents. An additional 28,000 coins were produced in Proof for collectors - these are worth about US$10.00 each (according to the Standard Catalog of World Coins).

Apart from the year, the fact that Queen Elizabeth II has aged and a few commemorative coins with different designs, Australian decimal coins look pretty much the same as they always have. There are no longer any one or two cent coins and the One and Two Dollar coins have been introduced into the currency. See the Royal Australian Mint link below.

There have only ever been four Mints in Australia, the Melbourne, Perth, Sydney and Canberra Mints.

The Royal Australian Mint Sydney, was opened as a branch of the Royal Mint London in 1855 and closed in 1926 with all minting responsibilities being dispersed to Melbourne and Perth. During its period of operation, the mintmark was "S" on British coins. On Australian predecimal coins, there was either no mintmark at all, or a complicated placement of dots on Pennies and Halfpennies.

The Royal Australian Mint Melbourne, was opened as a branch of the Royal Mint London in 1872 and closed in 1967 after the introduction of decimal currency with all minting being taken over by the newly opened RAM Canberra. During its period of operation, the mintmark was "M" on British coins. On Australian coins, there was either no mintmark at all, or a complicated placement of dots on Pennies and Halfpennies, or an "M" on all other predecimal coins.

The Royal Australian Mint Perth, was opened as a branch of the Royal Mint London in 1899 and is still operating. It is currently owned by the Western Australian Government and is responsible for producing most of Australia's bullion. During its period of operation, the mintmark was "P" on British coins. On Australian predecimal Penny and Halfpenny coins, there was a dot "." placed variously after the "Y" in PENNY (PENNY.) or after the "A" in AUSTRALIA (AUSTRALIA.) or between the "KG" (designers initials) (K.G). All silver coins were minted at the Melbourne Mint.

The Royal Australian Mint Canberra, was opened in 1965 and is still operating. Since 1982, it produces all of Australia's circulating coins and mints coins for many other countries. Since it is the only mint producing Australia's circulating coinage, there are no mintmarks used since 1981.

Australian predecimal coins have occasionally been minted overseas at London (L) or (PL), Heaton Birmingham (H), San Francisco (S), Denver (D), Bombay and Calcutta (I).

I am not even going to attempt to explain mintmarks on Australian decimal coins. Where mintmarks are used, these mostly include blunted first or second whiskers on the 1 cent coins, blunted claws on the 2 cent coin, blunted spines on the 5 cent coin, etc.

If you have a great need to know the details, get hold of a "Pocket Guide to Australian Coins and Banknotes" by Greg McDonald. It is a relatively inexpensive and detailed wealth of information.

There were no Australian 10 Shilling notes printed in 1966. 1966 is the year they were withdrawn after being replaced by the One Dollar note.

An Australian 1985 Two Dollar note (Johnston/Fraser), uncirculated and in absolute mint condition could fetch up to $14 AUD. If it has circulated but still in good condition, it might fetch anything from $3 to $5 AUD.

If it is the first or last of a serial number range, the value will increase dramatically.

The Australian Two Dollar note is no longer in circulation.

A reputable coin dealer will be able to give a more accurate valuation.

Queen Elizabeth II appears on the obverse of the Australian Five Dollar note. She is the nominal or titular head of state of Australia.

What are commonly referred to as gold coins in Australia are the general circulation One and Two Dollar coins. Neither has any gold in them, but they do have a dirty gold appearance. Both coins are made from an alloy of 92% copper, 6% aluminium and 2% nickel.

Both the Royal Australian Mint (RAM) and the Perth Mint produce a range of Proof coins, nuggets and other coin like objects for collectors and investors which do have a gold content of between 91.67% and 99%.

The Royal Australian Mint (RAM) Canberra has the sole responsibility for minting all of Australia's general circulation coins.

The Royal Australian Mint (RAM) Canberra and the Perth Mint between them, mints all of Australia's Non-Circulating Legal Tender (NCLT) coins plus a variety of medals, medallions and other similar products.

An Australian One Dollar note (Johnston/Stone)(serial DGJ to DPS), uncirculated and in absolute mint condition could fetch up to $9 AUD. If it has been circulated but still in good condition, it might fetch anything from $1 to $3 AUD.

A reputable coin dealer will be able to give a more accurate valuation.

Australian One Dollar notes are no longer in circulation.

A reputable coin dealer will be able to give a more accurate valuation.

An Australian 2000 fine silver (99.9%) Five Dollar coin (Elizabeth II)(Proof)(Sydney 2000 - Harbour of Life - Land), uncirculated and in absolute mint condition and the original pacjaging, could fetch up to $55 AUD.

There were 100,000 minted.

A reputable coin dealer will be able to give a more accurate valuation.

The reverse of the Australian Two Dollar coin has a bust of an Australian Aboriginal elder "One Pound Jimmy" inspired from an engraving by Ainslie Roberts. The reverse was designed by Horst Hahne.

The Royal Australian Mint advises that the person on the reverse of the Australian Two Dollar coin does not represent any particular individual.

Australia has never produced a silver Penny. If your Penny is silver, it would be because somebody has plated it. Modified coins have no collector value.

An Australian 1917 bronze Halfpenny (George V), uncirculated and in absolute mint condition could fetch up to $575 AUD. If it has been circulated but still in good condition, it might fetch anything from $1 to $80 AUD.

There were 6.24 million minted.

A reputable coin dealer will be able to give a more accurate valuation.

The wombat does not normally appear on any Australian general circulation coin, although it made an appearance on the 2004 "Student Design" 50 cent coin together with a koala and a cockatoo.

The Common Wombat does appear on the 2007 gold Proof "Fauna" series of coins.

The lines on the edge of a coin are called "Milling" or "Reeding".

These days, it has a decorative function. In the old days, it was done to prevent "clipping", which is the shaving off of the precious metal used to make the coin.

Many countries produce coins with a "milled" or "reeded" edge.