SettingsSettings Subscribe  

NumisTip

Recent Articles 9-Nov-2022

The Australian One Cent

Walter Eigner The Australian One Cent is a keenly collected series owing to its attractive design and relative affordability. It was first issued in 1966 and continued as a regular issue until 1991. Due to its popularity, the coin was re-issued in 2006, 2010, and 2016 as part of collector sets. 26-Aug-2021

Cleaning Coins

Walter Eigner Cleaning coins is one of the most divisive issues in coin collecting though most of the contention stems from a misunderstanding of the problems with cleaning coins. Dealers typically advise new collectors that cleaning will devalue their coins then they go ahead and happily sell cleaned coins. 22-Feb-2020

Rare Pre-Decimal Coins

Anna Fhaumnuaypol Pre-decimals are coins that everyone, whether you are a collector or just starting out, usually have in their collection which have the potential to truly worth a lot of money. It represents a very interesting look into the past since when it was first introduced in Australia in 1910. 25-Jan-2020

1942 and 1943 Bombay Mint Copper

Anna Fhaumnuaypol During wartime, the demand for pennies and half pennies increased immensely due to pay requirements of Australian and American forces within Australia. However, the availability of metals, especially copper and silver used for coins, was in shortage due to it being used for the war effort for munitions. Moreover, people were continuing to hoard silver and copper coins in money boxes for fear of instability resulting in banks running out of coins to function their day-to-day routine. 22-Nov-2019

Collecting Old Australian Coins

Walter Eigner Collecting old Australian coins provides a fascinating glimpse into Australia's history through its circulating coinage. While there is a general impression that old coins are too expensive for new collectors to collect that couldn't be further from the truth. For just a few dollars you could obtain a later year mint-state pre-decimal coin, and for less than the cost of a modern proof set you can purchase a George V (1911-1936) pre-decimal coin. 1-Nov-2019

The case for certified coins

Walter Eigner The debate on certified coins vs uncertified coins has been going on in Australia since PCGS first reached the mainstream Australian market back in 2008. While today most Australian coin collectors favour PCGS graded coins, a recent incident has reaffirmed the importance of and buying certified coins and valuing them first, especially when buying on-line. 5-Oct-2019

Valuing Old Coins

Walter Eigner By far the most common question we get asked is "what is my coin worth?" Perhaps you found a few old coins which is why you're here reading this article. Maybe you're a seasoned collector already looking to get more precise values for your coins than the printed catalogues can offer. Perhaps you're an investor looking to value your coin portfolio. This guide will cover all of that. 28-Sep-2019

The Silver of Edward VII

Walter Eigner Although Australia had been a nation since 1901, it wasn't until 1910 that her first official coins were produced. While the Melbourne mint was producing sovereigns and half sovereigns at the time, these were technically Imperial British coins. The first coins issued specifically for Australia were struck in silver and of the denominations threepence, sixpence, shilling, and florin. These featured the Australian Coat of Arms on the reverse and the crowed bust of King Edward VII on the obverse. 10-Sep-2019

Sydney Mint Half Sovereigns

Walter Eigner The discovery of gold in the colony New South Wales in 1851 prompted a surge of immigration among prospectors seeking wealth in the new colony. This lead to the production of half sovereigns in Sydney as of 1855. Only 3.3 million half sovereigns were produced from 1855 to 1869 resulting in individual years being very scarce and valuable. To add to this, the high bullion content of Sydney mint half sovereigns, which were alloyed with silver, compared with their British counterparts, which were alloyed with copper...
Previous Page: IntroductionNext Page: Coin Values

Australian 1942 and 1943 Bombay Mint Penny and Half Penny

Features

The differences between the 1942 and 1943 half penny produced in India and their Australian counterparts are distinguishable with a few features.

Dot Mintmark

First, the 1942 and 1943 half penny produced in Bombay has a dot mintmark before and after "penny" on the reverse. While the coins struck in Perth have only one dot in the front and the ones struck in Melbourne have none.

A dot mintmark before for India
A dot mintmark after for India
A dot after for Perth
No dot for Melbourne

Thicker Reverse Rim Beading

Second, the coins from the Bombay mint have a thicker reverse rim beading which added more demand from collectors looking for a sharper strike with more visible design details. The thicker reverse rim beading from the Bombay mint shows alternating thick and thin 106 denticles while the Perth ones showing shorter and stubby denticles. The Bombay mint produces two types of rim with one considered rare. The rare version has 104 denticles instead of the normal 106 and the shape of the denticles were slightly longer and thinner in comparison (Australian-coins.com, 2009).

Comparisons between the reverse beading 1942 Half Penny Perth (left) and India (right)
1942-I Half Penny (left) 1942-I Half Penny Long Reverse Denticles considered rare (right)

"I" Mintmark

The third main difference in features between the coins produced in Australia and India is an "I" mintmark locating under the bust of George VI. The mintmark indicates that the coins were produced in India.

The "I" Mintmark

In addition, there was also another version of the 1942 penny coins produced in India. However, this version of coins is without the "I" mintmark and has a mintage of 9 million.

The 1942 Penny produced in India without the "I" mintmark
Previous Page: IntroductionNext Page: Coin Values