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Lot 130
Description:
'Full Band with 6 Pearls'
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Exhibited:
- 355 Literature:
- Collectibles Medium:
- Coins, Monies & Stamps Circa:
- Coins, Australia & New Zealand Notes:
- With the Great Depression taking hold, the Melbourne Mint had taken no orders from Treasury to strike 1930-dated pennies for circulation. However, in July of that year three 1930 penny reverse dies were struck most likely from a 1929 master tool for the intended purpose of striking specimens. A Melbourne-altered 1929 reverse with its similar florid legend appears to be the source of the 1930 reverse ruling out the long championed 1923 reverse which has decidedly flat-based lettering. On August 13, 1930 twelve specimens were produced using one of these reverse dies, which was allied with an 'Indian' obverse die sourced from a fresh master tool that had been sent directly from London in 1922 and which had laid aside until it was used to strike very limited numbers of 1929, 1930 and 1931 pennies. No further pennies were struck by the Melbourne Mint in 1930 and it was not until August of the following year that the three 1930 reverses along with both 'English' and 'Indian' obverse dies were utilised for experimental purposes. Production from these dies is recorded as nil thousands, i.e. less than 1,000 coins per die which even then appears grossly overstated regarding the English obverse type of which only a few surviving examples have surfaced. Evidence suggests that only one bag of blanks was used which could have produced 2,400 coins. However, if it is assumed that the two dies allied with Indian obverses produced under 1,000 coins each and an insignificant number of coins were struck using the English obverse, then the mintage of the 1930 penny must be well under 2,000. The common consensus is that around 1,500 coins were struck in total although this cannot be proved or disproved and this figure may still be an overestimation. As there were no counters on the coin presses, the annual coin production figures were at best rudimentary being deduced by a count of the number of bags of blanks used. For the stocktake, it was also the common practice for small runs of coins struck for experimental purposes to be returned to an open bag of coins or blanks so that they would be included in the count. It is therefore probable that through the disbursement of the bag containing the experimental 1930 pennies, Australia's best-known rarity made its way into circulation and first came to the notice of collectors in the 1940s. There are enough penny blanks found in circulation to support the theory that bags containing a mixture of blanks and struck coins were on occasion inadvertently released. The Australian 1930 Penny has long been regarded as the 'prized' item in an Australian Coin Collection and so has been the subject of forgeries for decades. The most commonly seen altered date forgery is the 1933 Penny which has had the second ‘3’ removed to be replaced by a crafted ‘0’. You may ask where one would find a suitable ‘0’ to affix to the coin? Well, whether it is folklore or not, old-timers will tell you that the more visually convincing basic forgeries used the ‘O’ shaved from the “ONE’ on the reverse of a George V Halfpenny to best approximate the shape of the zero in the date of the 1930 Penny which is fatter in look than the ‘0’ used on the 1920 pennies which of course is another potential but less convincing source. This forgery falls over immediately because the 1933 pennies have a ‘Birmingham’ reverse which suffice to say has a totally different alignment of the legend to the denticles. But, while you are aligning the letters of ‘AUSTRALIA’ to determine its type you should also look at the base of the letters which are relatively flat-footed on the 1933 Penny when compared to the very strong curvature found on a genuine 1930 Penny. In particular, the highly stylised foot on the ‘L’ of ‘AUSTRALIA’ on the ‘London’ Am reverse common to both types of 1930 pennies stands out when compared to ‘L’ used on the Bm reverse. The 1933 Penny also has an 'English' obverse which rules out the vast majority of 1930 pennies that have an ‘Indian’ obverse, and while there are a few genuine 1930 'English' obverse die pennies these of course do not have a 'Birmingham' reverse. One might ask why the plentiful 1931 ‘English’ obverse – Dropped 1’ pennies couldn’t be used as the basis on which to try and forge a penny to add to the three or four known examples of the 1930 'English' obverse Penny. Well, the answer again lies with the type of ‘London’ reverse die used on both varieties of the 1931 ‘Dropped 1’ pennies which is a noticeably different type. The 'Dropped 1' pennies have an 'A' type reverse which with its decidedly straight-based letters in the legend is at odds with the Am reverse used on both 1930 Penny types which display strong curvature.
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Shipping
AUSTRALIA: Purchases within Australia will be charged a MINIMUM SHIPPING FEE of $5.50 and will be sent by Registered Post. Additional insurance is optional at the buyer's expense.
INTERNATIONAL: Overseas purchases will be charged a MINIMUM SHIPPING FEE of $20.00 and will be sent by Registered Post International. Additional insurance is optional at the buyer's expense.
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6 October 2024 12:00 AEDT
Sydney, Australia
Smalls Auctions
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Bid Increments
| From: | To: | Increments: |
|---|---|---|
| A$0 | A$249 | A$5 |
| A$250 | A$999 | A$10 |
| A$1,000 | A$4,999 | A$25 |
| A$5,000 | A$9,999 | A$50 |
| A$10,000 + | A$100 |