| Author |
 Replies: 84 / Views: 3,603 |
|
Pillar of the Community
Australia
561 Posts |
Welcome to the 20c sub-forum for my quest to noodle a full set of circulating Australian decimal coins from scratch starting in April 2022.  The Australian 20 cent coin was introduced in 1966 and features a platypus on the reverse. For decades the lowest mintage standard 20 cent was the 1971 coin with a mintage of 8.9 million until 2019 when the first coin featuring the new effigy of the queen designed by Jody Clark (JC) came out with a mintage of less then 3 million. The 2001 Centenary of Federation series (featuring the 9 different states and territories) with mintages ranging from 2-3 million are probably the most hoarded 20 cent coins and are becoming difficult to find in circulation these days. 1983-1993 are considered the "lost years" with any coins found with these dates on them regarded to have escaped from a mint set. 1983 and 1984 coins were melted down and although the RAM lists the 1985 and 1988 as having small numbers minted for circulation none have actually been sited. 1966 and 1981 have slight changes in design which I consider to be mint marks rather than varieties as there are official mint figures for these coins. (1966 Canberra & London; 1981 Canberra, Canada and Wales). Personally I have never been able to tell the difference between Canberra and Wales minted coins. The 'holy grail' of 20 cent noodling is the 1966 wavy baseline variety which is extremely scarce in circulation these days, but hey there might be some still out there. Some other varieties to look out for are the 2004 large head or "Pointy A" and the 2010 "bubble". I will point these out if and when I find them. Not including varieties there are currently 66 Australian circulating 20 cent coins to collect. Edited by MachinMachinMan
04/06/2022 02:07 am
|
|
|
|
Pillar of the Community
Australia
561 Posts |
Day 3The first 20 cent noodle (a $100 bag) yielded all but 4 of the standard platypus coins (1972 and 1997 and the Canada and Wales minted 1981). There probably was a 3.5 claw coin but all the 1981 coins I found today were too worn to be absolutely sure. Commemorative coins were harder to come by. I only found 2 of the 9 Centenary of Federation coins. I also found a 2010 taxation office coin and 2011 women's day. I notice I left out a space for the 2001 Bradman coin (mintage 10 million). Naturally I didn't find one of these today.      Total number of 20 cent coins noodled: 500 Number of coins found: 49 Number of coins left to find: 17
Edited by MachinMachinMan
04/06/2022 02:44 am
|
|
Pillar of the Community
Australia
561 Posts |
Here's a look at the Canberra and London mint 1966 coins. The Canberra minted coin has a gap between the tip of the wave and the head of the platypus. The second coin is an unusually very nice 1966 London minted coin. Notice there is no gap between the wave and the platypus' head.   |
|
Valued Member
Australia
123 Posts |
Excuse my ignorance ,you state you got a $100 bag? .
Is the 'bag' from the Comm Bank and just loose coins?
I can only get rolls of coins from the machine in the wall.
|
|
Pillar of the Community
New Zealand
4075 Posts |
1981 20 cent varieties, I think  Top left - Canberra - 4 full claws, big nostrils the index coin - to the right Llantrisant - 3½ to 4 claws and smaller nostrils (Look at the far left claw, looks a bit "reduced"). Bottom - Canada (Not so sure now, 3½ claws, blunted first claw, big open nostrils  L to R - Canberra, rounded bold letters, strong eyebrow Llantrisant - Thinner eyebrow, letters thinner and further from rim Canada - weak strike and impression, strong round letters, eyebrow but overall a weakly struck coin. Apologies for bad photos - none of these coins are rare or even scarce.
I love COINS!!!
|
|
Pillar of the Community
Australia
561 Posts |
Quote:
Excuse my ignorance ,you state you got a $100 bag? .
Is the 'bag' from the Comm Bank and just loose coins?
I can only get rolls of coins from the machine in the wall. crab eater, I initially replied to your question here with photos of various bags and bundles of coin but since they were of other denominations I moved the post to the main Big Noodle thread: http://goccf.com/t/419886I don't have any 20 cent bags to show you because I noodled them today and didn't take any photos. But the coins came in a big bag containing 25x $4 sachets of 20c coins (hence a $100 bag). You have to ask for them at the counter. Some banks get angry if they think you are emptying the coin exchange machine leaving none for their "business" customers. Hope this answers your question.
Edited by MachinMachinMan
04/06/2022 07:58 am
|
|
Pillar of the Community
Australia
561 Posts |
Quote:
Canberra, rounded bold letters, strong eyebrow
Llantrisant - Thinner eyebrow, letters thinner and further from rim
Canada - weak strike and impression, strong round letters, eyebrow but overall a weakly struck coin. Princetane, reading that you would think it would be pretty easy to tell the difference between them but you need coins in higher grades to be sure. Even then I get confused between Canberra and Llantrisant. Quote:
none of these coins are rare or even scarce.
That's right, they minted over 50 million of each. Yet a 3.5 claw coin in uncirculated condition has a catalogue value of $170.  
|
|
Moderator
United States
114610 Posts |
Looking good!  |
|
Pillar of the Community
New Zealand
4075 Posts |
Quote:
Yet a 3.5 claw coin in uncirculated condition has a catalogue value of $170. Thats only for one with a cud error on it, a standard coin is only worth a few $. According to my McDonald catalogue. I am confident with my Canberra and Llantrisant coins as both are EF/AU but I will admit the Canadian one is a real shot in the dark as its only gVF and a weak strike.
I love COINS!!!
|
|
Pillar of the Community
Australia
561 Posts |
Day 9Noodled another $100 bag. Didn't find much of what I was looking for (only 2 new coins). Not a single 2001 Centenary of Federation coin to be seen. Still any day you find two 2016 change-over 20 cent coins is a good day.  This was the only platypus coin I found which I didn't already have  Found a grubby 2010 "bubble" variety that you certainly don't find every day.  Total number of 20 cent coins noodled: 1000 Number of different coins found: 51 Number of coins still to find: 15
Edited by MachinMachinMan
04/12/2022 12:07 am
|
|
Moderator
United States
114610 Posts |
Nice finds! |
|
Pillar of the Community
Australia
561 Posts |
Day 17Noodled through $58 of 20 cent coins and only found 2 new coins. Pretty grubby 1972 and 2001 ACT Centenary of Federation  Got a surprise in the last roll of the day: 7 very nice 2019 JC coins (our lowest mintage 20c)  Commemorative 20 cent coins have become hard to come by. Total number of 20 cent coins noodled: 1290 Number of different coins found: 53 Number of coins still to find: 13
|
|
Moderator
United States
114610 Posts |
Quote:
Successful finds slow down, but you will get Decent!
|
|
Pillar of the Community
Australia
561 Posts |
Day 20Noodled another $100 bag of 20c and found half a dozen coins that I needed. So many of the commemorative coins I find these days are extremely grubby like these WA CoF and 2003 Australia's Volunteers coins:  Here are some better commemoratives including Northern Territory CoF, 2011 Royal Wedding and 10th anniversary of International Year of Volunteers ( Did that coin really need to be made)  Found a Canadian minted 3 1/2 claws which is clear under my magnifying lens but my scanner/camera is not good enough to show it clearly in a photo. Will wait until I find a higher grade to show it, but it is crossed off my list. Total number of 20 cent coins noodled: 1790 Number of different coins found: 59 Number of coins still to find: 7
|
|
Pillar of the Community
Australia
4016 Posts |
Quote:
Did that coin really need to be made IMHO no.
View my Coins here, (NOW WITH OVER 16,800 IMAGES).... http://www.coincommunity.org/galler...hp?cat=10048OFEC count = 237 |
|
Pillar of the Community
New Zealand
4075 Posts |
I quite like it, would have been better to see some non Caucasian faces on it too. I am sure there are many Indigenous, Asian, Indian and Polynesian Australians involved in volunteer work too.
I think the Wills/Kat coin is the ugliest and did not need to be made. I mean its up there with the 1994 Family 50 cents as the most awful design so far.
I love COINS!!!
|
|
Replies: 84 / Views: 3,603 |
|
Posted 04/06/2022 02:40 am
