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Australia George V

1935 Sixpence

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The 1935 Sixpence is a semi-key date in the George V series. It was struck at the Royal Mint in London to the very small total mintage of 392,000. Despite the low mintage the type appears to be comparable in scarcity to many similar years. As with all George V sixpence acquiring the type in mint-state will require the collector to set aside a substantial sum of money.

The low mintage in 1935 and the lack of any issue between 1928 and 1934 can be explained by the Great Depression which was ravaging much of the world. Although the absolute worst of the great depression (~1932) had passed, Australia was still experiencing unemployment levels as high as 21% into the mid 1930s. These exceedingly high rates of unemployment coupled with decreased overall ability to spend, naturally reduced the country's need for new coinage. It may also be hypothesised that the surprising number of surviving 1935 Sixpence (relative to mintage figures) can be attributed to an unwillingness to spend and an increased tendency to hoard silver coins for a rainy day.