Lot 171
The 'Benchmark' coin
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Notes:
- The Melbourne Mint was recognised as the senior mint in Australia during the striking of our pre-decimal coinage and received its orders for coins directly from the Australian Treasury. It in turn directed the Sydney and Perth Mints to strike coins to complete orders usually supplying them with the requisite dies. The striking of coins was often a stop-start process over the course of the year and the mints would often halt production while awaiting orders for more coins. If they thought an order was imminent they would often leave the dies in the presses to ill-affect, as they would become spotted and rusted in a very short time. Most collectors of Australian high-grade coins would be familiar with raised polish marks in the fields of some of their coins, the direct result of a mint worker removing a rust spot from a die before recommencing production. Another sign of rusted dies is the orange-peel or dimpling effect found in the fields of some coins, and in certain years, it appears most coins were struck on extremely rusty dies which could not be remediated by cleaning with an abrasive. Perhaps pressed for time the mints went ahead with production anyway striking some very ordinary coins. It has been noted that both NGC and PCGS do not unduly penalise coins struck on rusty dies, as a 1926 Sixpence in NGC MS67 which was purged from the 'Benchmark' Collection now resides in a similar PCGS Holder. Rusted dies were extensively used on 1927 and 1928 Florins where a large percentage of uncirculated coins show unattractive dimpling in the fields. This presents the collector with the added challenge of finding high-grade coins that are also desirable. In this respect, the 'Benchmark' 1927 Florin in PCGS MS65 is a standout being an early strike on fresh dies. It also has the beautiful old-world tone sometimes found on coins of that era.
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