They make a really good missile to throw at someone! Paul McCartney had to walk off stage during a Beatles concert in Hong Kong, after he was struck by a large coin. A bit like a Ninja throwing star without the points!
Seriously though, the pure copper 2 pence, which weighs 2 ounces avoirdupois, (about 57.7 grammes in mint condition), would be worth perhaps U.S $150 in VF, if genuine, and looking at the screen, it looks OK to me! The rims can be quite easily damaged, due soft pure copper from which they were made, and the heavy weight of the coin.
That's really a piece of historical Oz that you have there, analogus to the coins that were used by the Pilgrim Fathers.
They turn up in Oz, usually in quite appalling condition, because they were heavily circulated in Australia. They were mentioned in a Proclamation declaring them to be legal tender for 4 pence, by one of the first British Governors of the British Penal Colony in Sydney, which was first settled on the 26th of January 1788.
That date is Australia Day, and is our National Holiday, a bit like Independence day! So, as you can see, it is quite an important historical coin. KEEP IT!
Posted 09/03/2010 4:30 pm
.
