How Big Is A Crown?

Agree - not practical - but I have a special place in my heart for them. Have no idea what what you could buy with one in 1937 or 38 but thinking about a weeks worth of food?

Congrats CGCoins on great fine!

Thanks enworb for the link. Will have a look.

How big is a crown (sized coin)?
The general numismatic convention is a diameter of 35mm or more.

The '37 crown was originally issued for circulation as a commemorative, but some of that status was lost when it was re issued in '38. It was never popular in circulation. They were colloquially known as 'Casey's Cartwheels' at the time of their issue.
There is some prestige in knowing that they have more silver in them, than an American silver dollar!

Of course coin collectors love them, but we are a contrary lot!

In the early 19th Century, The Royal Mint produced very few crowns, because they took two blows on the presses, & the moneyers (who were paid by the piece) didn't want anything to do with them. It was remarked at the time that this was very unfortunate, because of the considerable demand for large silver pieces such as the French five-francs & Mexican dollar.

And the production of big silver pieces for circulation continued, in some parts of the world, even through the period of the First World War. So some people must have found them more convenient than otherwise. I know my five bolivares (Venezuela) & sol (Peru) pieces, among others, show plenty of circulation wear, so they can't have just sat in bank vaults.

I'm kind of a fiend for crowns, though. In addition to the Australian of 1937, I have New Zealand of 1947, with the fern design (not the Waitangi, alas) ; the Bermuda of 1959, & the undersized one of 1964 ; the British "rocking horse" of 1935 ; the South African springbok & ship (1953) types ; the Southern Rhodesia 1953 ; & the Ceylon 5 rupees of 1957, which is a crown in all but name. I'm sure many people have better collections, of course, but those are mine. And the Cyprus 45 piastres is high on my wish list...