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 Replies: 8 / Views: 2,226 |
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Valued Member
Australia
117 Posts |
Does anybody know what our biggest coins are, in terms of diameter?
I'm just curious, really, but it would be fun to collect them all.
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Moderator
 Australia
16830 Posts |
The largest circulating coin was the 1937-38 crown. The largest NCLT "coin" is of course in the Pert h Mint bullion series. They've made a single gigantic 1 tonne gold "coin", which grabbed headlines in 2012 as being the biggest gold coin ever made. They only made one, and their purpose in making it seems to have been simply to steal the "world's biggest gold coin" record off the Canadians, who had made a few 100kg gold coins back in 2007. You can't "collect" it since it belongs to Per th Mint and goes on tour with them whenever they visit the big coin shows. The next size down is the commercially available silver 10 kilogram "Lunar" series coins: at 22cm across and 3cm thick, they're dinner-plate-sized. Don't say "infinitely" when you mean "very"; otherwise, you'll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite. - C. S. Lewis
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Valued Member
 Australia
117 Posts |
Thanks for the information - I suppose I won't be in a position to collect any of those. How about coins that you could hold in the palm of your hand? Have we ever issued anything the size of, say, a Maria Theresa thaler?
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Pillar of the Community
United States
797 Posts |
Yup, that would be the 1937-38 Crown. Only made for those 2 years. Pretty nice large silver coin!
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Valued Member
Australia
208 Posts |
The 1937 Crown is pretty large (.84 oz silver, sterling), is a nice looking coin, and is quite affordable. It has King George VI, after I bought it I watched "The King's Speech". I bought one in EF/AU for $50 Australian at The Strand on George St., Sydney. They can be had a little cheaper in lower grades. In Unc they go for $200 +. The 1938 is rarer and costs a few hundred even in lower grades
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Valued Member
Australia
222 Posts |
If we're talking pre-decimal, the pattern five pound made in 1887 and 1902 are big too.
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Valued Member
Australia
117 Posts |
Thanks, I didn't know the 1937 and 1938 crowns were any larger than florins, never having seen either.
What about decimal commemoratives? There seem to be literally hundreds of these. Are they all the same size as the standard currency?
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Moderator
Australia
16830 Posts |
Quote:
I didn't know the 1937 and 1938 crowns were any larger than florins, never having seen either. This thread on the stampboards forum has a pic of a crown with three florins int he same pic, to compare the size. Since the silver coinage all had weights in direct proportion to face value, a crown weighs two and a half times what a florin weighs. Crowns were never popular here in Australia as circulation pieces because they were simply too big and heavy. They learned their lesson not to repeat that mistake when we went decimal: the round 50 cent silver coin has the same theoretical face value as a crown, but weighs less than half what a crown weighs. Quote:
What about decimal commemoratives? There seem to be literally hundreds of these. Are they all the same size as the standard currency? Usually, yes; an NCLT commemorative 50¢ is usually the same size and composition as a normal circulating 50¢. Sometimes they'll make silver or gold versions but usually the same size. It's in the odd denominations that have no circulating counterpart that you'll find most of the larger coins. The $5 coins issued since 1988 in both aluminium-bronze and in silver are about crown-sized, as are the 1 troy ounce silver bullion and bullion-like coins put out by both Perth and the RAM. Don't say "infinitely" when you mean "very"; otherwise, you'll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite. - C. S. Lewis
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Valued Member
Australia
117 Posts |
Thanks for the info, Sap!
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Replies: 8 / Views: 2,226 |
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Posted 06/26/2014 06:47 am
