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Lot 7
Description:
Population 1 / Higher 0
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Provenance:
- Ex the Benchmark Collection Exhibited:
- 355 Literature:
- Collectibles Medium:
- Coins, Monies & Stamps Circa:
- Coins, Australia & New Zealand Notes:
- When the author first started in coins in the late 1970s, I remember that my boss at the time, the legendary âBob Robertsâ of M R Roberts fame, was the first person to promote the 1931 âIndian obverse - Dropped 1â Penny as ârarerâ than the 1930 Penny. I was a âsoakâ for knowledge and remember his slick selling spiel proclaiming that the coins were struck from an unused 193_ âLondonâ reverse die used to produce the 1930 pennies. However, without any thought of an explanation he theorised that a few coins were struck with a mis-aligned â1â instead of an â0â. At the time it was perhaps a plausible theory, but if you examine the coins more closely you will realise that the base of the lettering on the legend on the reverse of both varieties of the 1930 pennies display especially strong curvature as opposed to the straight based letters on the 1931 âIndian obverse â Dropped 1' pennies and likewise the 1931 âEnglish obverse â Dropped 1â pennies. The last Australian Penny with straight based letters was the 1923 Penny which was the product of the first âLondonâ reverse master die that the Melbourne Mint received from the Royal Mint. This unspoilt reverse was duly employed by Melbourne before in 1924 it reverted to its habit of tinkering around the edges of the design of new source dies it received from London. Both the âLondonâ reverse 1911 (L) and 1923 (M) pennies were struck on pristine Royal Mint dies characterized by straight based letters, and these are classified in the Benchmark Coin Catalogue as Type A. The âLondonâ reverse dies used by the Melbourne Mint to strike pennies between 1924 and 1930 are typified by either slight or strong curvature on the base of the letters in the legend and these are classified as Type Am for Melbourne modified dies. The 1931 âDropped 1â pennies signalled a brief return the straight based letters in the legend. In this case, the Melbourne Mint did not rework a dormant 1923 reverse die to strike these coins but instead took an easier course by creating a master die from a ânewâ partly dated 'London' 193_ reverse that it received from the Royal Mint on November 7th, 1930. However, in a rush to production, it is obvious that it misaligned the placement of the '1' in the date when adding it to the die. Of course, not all âDropped 1â pennies are rare as there were 392,500 struck in combination with an âEnglishâ obverse and it is only the limited combination of an âIndianâ obverse and a âLondon - Dropped 1â reverse which were struck experimentally in very few numbers. Again, the âIndianâ obverse dies used on these coins were not derived from the dies sent from Calcutta in 1920 but from a âIndianâ obverse master die sent directly from London in 1922 which lay aside until it was used later by Melbourne Mint to strike very limited numbers of the 1929, 1930 and 1931 âIndianâ obverse pennies. It is certain that the dies used to produce the 1931 âIndian Die - Dropped 1â Penny were combined just once for experimental purposes with Mint records showing "nil thousand production" i.e. less than 1,000 coins struck (estimate 500) of which approximately 50 have survived. This coin is usually found in no better than VG/Fine condition and is extremely rare in higher grades. There are no records pertaining to the ânewâ variety of the 1931 'Indian obverse - Dropped 1â Penny promoted in recent years as the âUnicornâ Penny. This was supposedly struck on the Melbourne modified 'London- Am' reverse, but evidence would suggest that these are likely âfakesâ and that the âUnicornâ remains a myth. You would have to ask the obvious question as to why having mis-aligned the â1â on the partly dated 'London' 193_ reverse that it received from the Royal Mint the Melbourne Mint would choose to revisit its âhowlerâ of a mistake on a totally different âLondonâ reverse die that it had modified? A few years back a Queensland auction house had one of these âUnicornâ Penny consigned for sale and high-resolution photographs of the coin are quite revealing. This particular coin was most definitely a fake being a crude reworking of a 1924 'Indian' obverse die Penny which in common with the 1929 'Indian' obverse die Penny, has the curvature on the base of letters in the legend associated with a 'Londonâ Am reverse. You could see clear evidence of a depression around the last two digits of the date and even to the naked eye you can see that the â3â and the â1â have been added and the area surrounding them artificially âantiquedâ to cover up the subterfuge. Embarrassingly, the Numismatic Association of Australia provided its imprimatur to the 'Unicorn' Penny by publishing an article in Volume 29 of its annual journal that purports to establish the legitimacy of this variety. The authorâs contrived research dismisses other âIndianâ obverse pennies such as the 1924 and 1929 as being a possible platform to create a multi-digit forgery thus pressing its case for legitimacy. But, even at first glance the âUnicornâ Penny pictured in the published article also shows clear evidence of being an altered date with a noticeable depression and discoloration in the area around the last digits of the date. You can probably discount the 1929 âIndianâ obverse pennies as the source coins behind the ruse as this reverse was combined with only one âLondonâ Type Am reverse die which produced perhaps another 50,000 coins. However, the 1924 'Indian' obverse Penny is only difficult to acquire in high grade and with an estimated mintage of perhaps 250,000 coins it is probable that five or six reverse dies were employed in its production. These reverses were not necessarily identical and as the evidence presented in the NAA article only supposedly eliminates 'one' suspect in the line-up of 1924 reverse penny dies any of the others remain 'prime suspects' as the source die used to create the altered date 'Unicorn' Penny. Not since the enigmatic David Gee has someone tried to manufacture a ânewâ rarity in the Australian coin series and itâs a pity heâs not still around to score marks out of ten for the effort.
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28 September 2024 12:00 AEST
Sydney, Australia
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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 |