Percentage of remaining pre decimal

[autocoupler]

Think I asked this question on the old forum but can't remember if there were any opinions:dodgy:. So the question is, is there an accepted remaining percentage of Australian pre decimal coinage. I seem to remember a figure of 5% being mentioned somewhere.

oops, forgot the pre

[nealeffendi]

Think I asked this question on the old forum but can't remember if there were any opinions:dodgy:. So the question is, is there an accepted remaining percentage of Australian pre decimal coinage. I seem to remember a figure of 5% being mentioned somewhere.

oops, forgot the pre

Too many variables to say it is 5%. Lots of pre '46 silver was melted by the government to repay the US. Lots melted unofficially by sailors and others taking it to HK and other melting pots.
Also natural attrition would have wiped out lots of early stuff. Cherry picking means the scarce dates have a better chance of surviving.
Then the RAM reports from 40 years ago mention recalls and melting post '66.
Also 50 tons of pennies were shipped to NZ back in '66.
Anecdotes from about '65 in ACR also mention that the collecting bug had removed most of the Geo V pennies from circulation. It was so bad that in mid '65 Melbourne mint had to strike more pennies and they were purposely dated '64 so they wouldn't be horded.
So only rough guesstimates and no consensus on the remainder.

[Robster]

Interesting topic, I think I have read similar figures.!!
 I would also be interested to discover what percentage of forum members still consider pre-decimal as their main collecting focus.
Fairly obvious that we are a diverse bunch, both in coin types and presentation. :idea:

[robbiegal]

I think that the percentage remaining is irrelevant as I thought that the mintage figures determine scarcity etc

millions of 1966 50c have been melted (and many melted overseas and not legally?) but people still say that they 'are çommon'

maybe in another 20 or so years the 'remaining' figures might make a difference?

without mint records then I reckon we don't really know

[autocoupler]

Thanks one and all for your thoughts on this. My motive for asking is from the point of view of a variety collector, as I believe there are some varieties within the early pre decimal dates of high mintage that today could be considered extremely scarce.

Without wanting to offend collectors of die cracks, cuds, die damage and so on, I'm mainly referring to unique die differences centred around the varying position of date numerals. A good example is the 1922 penny with a stated mintage of 12,697,000, and probably thought of as one of the poor relations, particularly in earlier times when the benefit of research from the 1960's or before wasn't so much available prior to then. Because of their lack of notoriety I doubt if these coins would have been cherry picked for varieties, therefore I don't think it unreasonable to assume that a disproportionate number of varieties remain.

Sorry if this is turning into a bit of a ramble on, but this subject is something I've put some time into over the past decade. Detailed
research carried out by others, and supported by visual evidence, has identified many examples i.e. Wide date, Extra wide date, spike on tail of the 9, left leaning 9, as well as flat and curved base lettering in the reverse legend. There is other research suggesting further differences exist, unfortunately, accessing clear descriptions backed by visual evidence isn't possible.

Over this time I've been able to locate and identify other examples that differ further in date width and numeral alignment, may be they fall into the group that suffers from unclear description. Anyhow, this brings me to the point of the original question of remaining percentages. If a reliable ball park figure ha ha was at hand:dodgy:, I think the remaining numbers of some varieties for the 1922 penny could be considered extremely scarce and rare in better grade. Based on a figure of 5%, for one variety in particular, I believe there could be as few as 500 examples remaining.

[Robster]

Agree with your synopsis, most gloss over the 'minor varieties' ,which gives you more chance to find the rare gem.!! I have spent the last 12 months sifting through my childhood buckets of pennies and halfpennies and I have reached the rough total of 700 errors and varieties.!!
Not too fussed if they are minor laminations all the way through to super rare die cracks, they keep me busy and I try and share any doubles with anyone who appreciates them.!!

[autocoupler]

I have spent the last 12 months sifting through my childhood buckets of pennies and halfpennies and I have reached the rough total of 700 errors and varieties.!!

My Mother had two big old long socks full of coppers that she used to pay the baker and milkman with, and remember building castles with them on the veranda. I wasn't thinking of dates in those days:rolleyes:

[Basil]

Neal,or someone,OT but is there anyway to tell the difference between the Sydney & Melb. minted 1926 Penny. I have a vague recollection in my head that there was some discussion on mintage figures back in the 1960's and some felt the 1926 Mintage was over estimated/inflated for some reason.

Renniks figures from the other Thread.
http://www.australian-coins.net/showthread.php?tid=2536&page=2

[nealeffendi]

Neal,or someone,OT but is there anyway to tell the difference between the Sydney & Melb. minted 1926 Penny. I have a vague recollection in my head that there was some discussion on mintage figures back in the 1960's and some felt the 1926 Mintage was over estimated/inflated for some reason.

Renniks figures from the other Thread.
http://www.australian-coins.net/showthread.php?tid=2536&page=2

On 2/9/26 a letter from the Sydney Mint (Christie to Le Souef) requested 3 reverse dies dated 1926. Also mentioned that the only reverse penny dies on hand were dated 1924.
On 16/9/26 a letter from Le Souef to Christie notified that penny dies had been forwarded the previous day.
So as Sydney struck 640,800 pennies from early September to mid October '26 it probably had to have used both 1924 and 1926 dated reverse dies as there is little chance that 3 dies could strike so many and if Sydney had already struck 180 pounds (face) of pennies that were sent to store on the 8/9/26 it proves that they were still using the '24 dies.
I don't trust any mintage figure unless I have personally checked the mint records and the catalogues just parrot/regurgitate pap.
On my To Do list (next year?) is a thorough investigation into identifying the working dies for 1926. That might identify the 3 dies that Sydney used.

[Basil]

OK,Thanks,i'll be interested to see the results when you find the time to look at 1926 mintages & dies used.

[serial]

well I just picked up 4kg of un-noodled post 46 silver coins that I am currently going through
given that I find a lot of hoards like this I will say there are a lot more out there than you think

[stevo1962]

well I just picked up 4kg of un-noodled post 46 silver coins that I am currently going through
given that I find a lot of hoards like this I will say there are a lot more out there than you think

It's very exciting to get an unsorted bulk lot.I hope you find some nice keepers

[Goldseeker]

I bet that cost you a bit Stevo1962?

[autocoupler]

you guys need a 1922 thread
this is interesting stuff

Is it possible to start a new thread as robbiegal suggests, and then  move relevant posts across?

[markn]

you guys need a 1922 thread
this is interesting stuff

Is it possible to start a new thread as robbiegal suggests, and then  move relevant posts across?

Yes.  Start the thread and I'll move the posts.