The 1937 Crown was originally intended to commemorate the ascension of King Edward VIII but due to Edward VIII's abdication,
it was instead struck to commemorate the accesion of King George VI
(Cruzi's Coins, 2009)
and was the only circulation coin produced by Australia that year. The crown was proposed by the then Federal Treasurer
R. G. Casey who pushed hard for its introduction, thus spawning the nick name, "Casey's Cartwheel"
(Cruzi's Coins, 2009)
.
A total of 1,008,000 coins were struck, and while the coin was generally not circulated due to its large size and its
commemorative
nature, many did find themselves in circulation leaving the average circulated pieces ranging from XF to AU.The 1937
crown is readily obtainable in mint state but as the crown was distributed to banks by ship and rail
(Coin Web, 2007)
and due to the large open surfaces, they are frequently found with large
bagmarks
resulting in an average grade of mint state pieces ranging from MS62 to MS63. Finding an example
free of significant surface marks can be quite a challenge though the coin does occasionally turn up in MS64 but becomes
very scarce beyond this. Strike is also of major consideration when grading the coin as the strikes within both years that
the crown was struck vary to a strong degree.
While strike doesn't have much of an influence on grades up to MS64, where most of mint state
graded population rests, it certainly does have a influence on price with strong premiums being paid for well struck up
examples, particular if they display a fully formed orb. The Melbourne mint also struck 100
proof
crowns in 1937 -
Learn more about the 1937 proof crown.
While the series was originally intended as
commemorative, it continued
into 1938 with an additional 101,600 coins struck (See 1938 Crown
for more information) losing its
commemorative
appeal.
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