Predict The Future Decimal To Make The Million Dollar Mark

have done some work with john saxon on the 1988 pattern 50c we can only find 4 coins know in the early actions the same coin was some in about 5 auctions as they were told it was fake or could be or it was a token so we think there is only 4 out there

Looking at the US experience, and extrapolating to the hypothetical day in the far future when Australian coin collecting is as big as American coin collecting is today. What do we see in America that we can learn from?

Patterns don't usually become super-rarities. They aren't considered "mainstream" so aren't listed in the gotta-collect-em-all checklists. And coins have to be famous in the mainstream to boost the demand.

Errors likewise don't become super-rarities. For either patterns or errors to become super-rarities, they have to be re-classified by collectors as non-errors or non-patterns. The 1930 penny is a classic example; these are technically "trial pieces", since the official mintage is zero. But they've gone "mainstream" and are listed in all the catalogues and fill-the-gaps albums alongside the regular coins.

NCLT commemoratives generally don't become super-rarities. The most sought-after coins in the American series today aren't the super-scarce commemorative half-dollars, they're the "key dates", coins that look just like all the other coins of the same type, except for having a particularly well sought-after date-mintmark combination.

Finally, you ideally want your super-rarities to have some kind of mystery or mystique about them: coins that "should all have been withdrawn and destroyed" or "should not exist" or "should never have been made". Some story that captures the imagination of the collecting public. The 1933 double-eagle is a classic American example; the closest we have in the predec series is the 1930 penny.

So, are there any coins that meet all these conditions? The 1977 and 1988 CoA 50¢ coins are good candidates, if they manage to lose their "error" status. "Mint set only" coins like the 1985 5¢ are also good candidates, if they can lose their "NCLT" status. Other good candidates are the ones where theoretically high mintages were mostly melted down, like the 1983 20¢; alas, too many have survived in mint sets for them to ever qualify as "rare".

We may have to wait until we have another currency reform; the timing and circumstances of that occurrence just might create a sought-after rarity, such as happened in New Zealand where the elimination of the 5¢ created the unexpectedly rare 2004 5¢ coin.

I never new about the 1977 20c until tonight
and I think sap is right when he says Some story that captures the imagination of the collecting public. to me the best known decimal would be the 2000 mule it is still a buzz and you could still find one every one who searches pennys or selling pennys will say there is no 1930 in there so I think the 2000 mule will take ove the 1930 penny as the dream find coin

What about the 1916 Half penny mule, they are worth a large sum.

flippy no pre decimals it don't count

Downies coin auction description as follows:


Lot 1512: Pattern Twenty Cents in Cu/Ni struck on what appears to be a British Twenty Pence blank dated 1977, reverse "Testing R.Aust Mint" Unc and extremely rare

2014 Macca Description as follows:
1977 recently discovered "pattern"
In the recent cab mag, IAG sold a pattern 1937 penny for $387,562, that's not to bad for a so called pattern, especially when there's more than one of them minted

My pick would be the 2005 $1 MOR proof.

I'm sure most people are aware this coin wasn't in the 2005 proof set. It only appeared in a limited number of 2006 error proof sets

http://www.australian-threepence.co...-1-mule.html

To me proof coins straddle that dubious line between being NCLT and a circulation coin. Given the acceptance of pre decimal proofs as highly desirable and that the 2005 $1 MOR proof has an estimated mintage of about 40 then I can see this coin booming in the future.