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Australia George V

1915-H One Shilling

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In 1915 the Australian Commonwealth Shilling was produced at both the Royal Mint in London and the private mint of Heaton & Sons in Birmingham. This joint minting process was necessary as the Royal Mint had been refocused to assist with the war effort and the Australia had growing demands for more coins. The coins struck at the Heaton & Sons Mint featured a small 'H' mint-mark below the date on the reverse.

Heaton & Sons (H) mint-mark on the reverse on a 1915-H Proof Shilling.

The 1915-H is the key date in the series and was produced with a mintage of only 500,000. The piece is quite scarce across all grades with only 29 examples graded by PCGS in total, the lowest figure in the series. Anyone seeking a mint-state example will struggle to find one for anything less than a small fortune.

The silver coin shortage in 1915 was caused during the transition from minting in Britain to Australia. Already short as the Royal Mint was unable to meet Australia's demand and the process of having dies created and shipped to Australia caused further delays. The issue was raised with the Federal treasurer with some suggesting the creation of a five-shilling note would alleviate pressure on the silver currency. The treasurer stated that the government had no intention to create such a note.