1984 5c Large Echidna Reverse

eccentric · March 31, 2015, 01:43:30 PM

Thought people might be interested in this. I've been looking for one of these for two years without success. They are quite scarce - perhaps even rare - as most were the small echidna reverse. Finally found one - slabbed and MS67. I know there are more available as I have spoken to the seller. It seems he must have slabbed a complete roll of the large echidna reverses as he had others available. If you're interested in obtaining one, just do a search for PCGS 1984 5c and see what turns up. Make sure you check that the picture is the actual coin as sometimes a generic image is used. I have no connection with the seller at all - just wanted to make the information available.

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emu666 · March 31, 2015, 02:16:58 PM

Thanks for the heads up.

Those two reverse are actually the same size just in different locations.
Low and high echidna are a better description.
http://www.thesandpit.net/index.php?option=five_cent_different_echidnas

His MS66+ was a low echidna.
So I grabbed it.

eccentric · March 31, 2015, 03:16:16 PM

I have seen that, but I'm still not sure it fully explains the difference in size. If you compare the distance of the spikes from the bottom on the two reverses, and them compare the distance of the spikes from the top, there seems to be a discrepancy. The difference between the gaps at the top seems to be a lot smaller that the difference between the gaps at the bottom. Small on left, large on right.

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emu666 · March 31, 2015, 03:53:48 PM

Quote from: 'eccentric' pid='69874' dateline='1427777176'I have seen that, but I'm still not sure it fully explains the difference in size. If you compare the distance of the spikes from the bottom on the two reverses, and them compare the distance of the spikes from the top, there seems to be a discrepancy. The difference between the gaps at the top seems to be a lot smaller that the difference between the gaps at the bottom. Small on left, large on right.

They are the same size on all my measurements (see above).
Anyway if you want a really large echidna, the so-called tiny SD is huge.

Interesting coincidence was that I was thinking about you the other day.

eccentric · March 31, 2015, 04:03:22 PM

Probably my eyes - it did seem that way from the photos I took. In any case, the differences make for an interesting collection. I have still to sight a large/low 1985 or a small/high 1987 - not sure whether these variations even exist. I did see a mention of the high 1987 some time ago, but no direct evidence to verify it to date.

emu666 · March 31, 2015, 04:11:10 PM

Please use with discretion as I am going to write this up for CAB:
http://www.thesandpit.net/5c_survey/2014_5c_survey.html

If you like you can have my second best (=worst) 1987 high echidna. It's very grotty but real.

I've only ever seen one type of 1985.

eccentric · March 31, 2015, 08:08:19 PM

PM sent

Nevol · April 01, 2015, 07:39:51 AM

Slightly off-topic but related somehow,: I remember that Brissyboy had done a fair bit of work on the Large SD/Small SD topic when ACBO was alive. Did anyone keep any of his posts?

Mister T · April 06, 2015, 09:45:52 AM

Quote from: 'emu666' pid='69883' dateline='1427780470'Please use with discretion as I am going to write this up for CAB:
http://www.thesandpit.net/5c_survey/2014_5c_survey.html

If you like you can have my second best (=worst) 1987 high echidna. It's very grotty but real.

I've only ever seen one type of 1985.

So it looks like the 2011 - 2013 reverse D don't circulate. Up until now I thought had none had found their way this far north.

Mister T · January 08, 2016, 05:00:55 PM

So has the 1985 low echidna been reported reliably by anyone? I remember reading an article in an old Australian Coin Review that made suppositions about its possible existence but everywhere else that I've seen mention of it, it has just been 'reported'.

Mister T · January 30, 2016, 02:06:37 PM

Quote from: 'Mister T' pid='83507' dateline='1452234655'So has the 1985 low echidna been reported reliably by anyone? I remember reading an article in an old Australian Coin Review that made suppositions about its possible existence but everywhere else that I've seen mention of it, it has just been 'reported'.

I found the article (p30, April 2004 of the Australasian Coin and Banknote magazine). To quote "two different coins certainly exist for 1986. The implication is that they exist for 1985 as well."
This seems to be the first mention of the varieties for 1985/1986 based on what the author had to say.

Mister T · May 14, 2016, 11:40:40 AM

Anyone seen any low echidnas for 2015 or 2016? I've only seen high echidnas for 2015 circulating coins and I haven't got a 2016 set yet.