Australian And New Zealand Coins, How Far Back Can We Go - First Edition

Australia in 1948 had all but the Florin issued, and my coins are again at least decent examples.





The Penny and Halfpenny were minted with both dot (Perth) and no dot varieties (Melbourne). The Halfpenny with no dot is scarce and Penny with it is "less common" the other varieties like I have are very common

Notice too, the coins have "Ind Imp" on the reverse, if you look at 1949 to 1952, they end with "Fidei Def"

The 3d was the only really common coin issued, and the 6d and 1/- had lower than usual numbers, but not low enough to be considered rare or even scarce.

This group has a nice 3d (High VF), but the 6d is the star of the bunch, this coin is aEF and just off being very collectible (Catalogue value jumps from $3 to $18 from VF to EF), so my coin I would value around $5 - $8. Again the shilling is no more than high VG/Fine and the bronze is in that common F- VF area.

You have done well - a lot of character and a full VG example. The worst are usually high VG, but the feathers are nearly gone from the Kiwi and George's hairline is indistinct - score, and the brown is copper leaching through.

That coin is quite a classic as well - hold on to it.

Of course I knew that!

Thought I had explained it, but must have slipped my mind.
Queen Victoria became Empress of India in 1877 after Benjamin Disraeli arranged it for her. The Imperial title was kept until August 15th 1947 when India declared independence and George VI was reduced to the rank of King.

However Imperial titles remained on coins until 1949 in some cases and the British Empire was only renamed the British Commonwealth in 1954. New Zealand was one of the few places to drop the imperial title for 1948. NZ coins used English and thus did not have IND:IMP on them (India Imperator or Imperiatrix for Victoria) but merely George VI King Emperor.

British India became India and Pakistan. On January 24th 1950 India became an independent republic and Pakistan also did in 1951.

BTW - Steve, a great group of coins and you have both types of the penny

My pleasure Steve, you have a great collection (Just seen your juicy Canberra Florin)

1947 was the first year of Cupro nickel coinage in New Zealand, as our coins were minted in England and we were reliant on their whims, we had to follow them into Cupronickel just like Mauritius, Seychelles, African colonies and even India (Who went there in 1946).

Cupronickel pieces started appearing here in September 1947, already the silver price hike in 1946 had subsided, but Britain had to pay back a massive silver loan to the USA from wartime and as cupronickel coins came into NZ silver was taken out and sent to the UK to help pay the silver loan. Fortunately a lot was hoarded so people like me have a nice selection of silver pieces dated 1946 and earlier.

The goal was 4 years for complete replacement of the coins, and the mintages of 1947 to 1950 reflected that. By 1950 most of the silver coins had either been hoarded or were in a melting pot in the UK or back at Fort Knox ready to be made into Rosies, Washington quarters and Franklin halves!

Anyway here is 1947 - a full set of coins came out.





This was the last year with "George VI King Emperor" as India became independent in August and the empire was gone reduced to a colonial kingdom and united kingdom.

Apart from the shilling which I paid $10 (EF), the rest are standard circulation grade, although these are all VF except the 6d which is Fine and generally searching through average coins these are the best you will find without spending big buckies (Okay the Florin was 1 of 5 for $5 for all, so it cost me a $1). The 3d is near EF and the Halfcrown is a high VF example.

No 1947 dated coins are scarce dates and its the earliest generally found in many collections. Compared to most 1947 coins, this is a nice group.

EF to UNC coins are in the $100 bracket for this date, actually more than silver ones!

Tomorrow we get to the SILVER! and you will see coins now worth REAL Money, my halfcrowns and Florins are all at least VF and thus above average and quite a few of the smaller coins are too.

Australia for 1947 sees the welcome return of the Florin and the first in a series of CREAMY florins from the Princetane Coin Galleries of Distinction in Numismatics .


Super Uncirculated here






1947 was another year like 1949 of bitsy coin issuance in Australia, no Sixpences or Shillings were issued dated 1947. The Threepence of which I now have one, was quite scarce with just 4 million issued and the Halfpenny was only minted in Perth (I have one). Only the Penny and Florin came out in good numbers and again Pennies come from both mints, mine is a Melbourne one.

1947




And the best part is, it was free. I posted a picture of the crappy one I owned and a friend who collects those Florins sent me a better one. :)

NZ






Aus

I don't have much for this thread, but this is one I've had since I was a kid. I believe my mom found it with a few dozen other South Pacific coins when she lived in American Samoa in the seventies.




I'm out until 1880.

We are in 1946 the first year of Kiwi silver and we have some juicy coins. I say this as New Zealand gets another mini lockdown, so now we can all share this covid misery.


Many of my silver coins overall are worn, but 1946 is a year in which I have upgrades for all my silver. Nothing is below VF which is really nice with Kiwi silver, coins are shiny and light (Believe me, worn ones are really ..dark!).
This group features a high VF Halfcrown, VF+ Shilling, EF 6d and a AU (That is right practically new) 3d! In fact the usual VF bronze is the let down in the group.



The Florins are separate as 1946 had two types. The common one is the Roundback florin on the left, notice the higher relief on the back and the under beak has 4 whiskers, letters are sharper and the rim is more narrow. All earlier Florins in silver are of this "Roundback" type.

The right coin is a Flatback florin, it is similar to the 1947 and later cupronickel coins, the rim is wider, design is "Flatter" and 5 whiskers under the beak. This type is scarce with only 300k minted next to 0.9 million roundbacks.

Both coins are gVF however the Flatback coin cost twice as much as the roundback coin. You will see more feather detail survives on the flatback. KG initials are a bit higher on the bottom right too. Circular rim beads are more oblong on flat back coins too (Of course coins under Fine, this is impossible to discern, so you need to buy a decent grade piece if you are sure of owning a Flatback).

Easier still is comparing any 1946 Florin you have to a 1947 or later one and a 1945 or earlier one!


Reverses of all the coins with each florin indicated.

Bear in mind the coins were only 50% silver not sterling, so this means 1946 is the only year both NZ and Australia had silver coins of the same purity standard!