It all happened in 1966

[Dazzle]

Hi everyone,
I wanted to share a two-part historical and engineering study I've written about a unique 1966 Australian 20-cent piece I pulled from circulation.

Rather than a pristine variety, this coin captures the violent, messy final moments of a die as it literally fractured and disintegrated on the press under tons of hydraulic pressure.
Because formatting the microscopic forensic photos alongside the text is incredibly detailed, I have compiled Part 1 into a clean, easy-to-read PDF document attached below.
I would love to hear your thoughts on the structural die failure theory! Part 2 will be posted next week.

[fred lever]

Well, it's refreshing to see some research on decimal coins.
I am not going to comment on the Authors paper at this time.
Way back in 2016 i did some investigation on the die variety and posted an article in CAB.
Ref: CAB September 2016 vol 19-08.
In this I gave my reasons for the horror existing and how the die and/or punches were mangled.
This was from my view point as a 80 year collector, researcher and hands on engineering shop worker.
I did contact the London Mint hoping any trace of the actual die still existied.
I received a reply regarding the Mints holding of 1960 20c dies but alas none of the dies kept had the Horror on them.
Details of that are in the article.
If you don't have the mag in your library or can't download it, drop me a line on my email address and i'll send a PDF copy.
Cheers, Fred.

 

[Basilstate]

Welcome Dazzle...

[Triggersmob]

Yes, welcome Dazzle. Always nice to have new members.
Tell us a bit about yourself, and your collection.

[fred lever]

Copy of my 2016 CAB article and a memo sent to Dazzle.

Fred.

[Tanecoins]

Yes welcome Dazzle.

That story is great, the main part that fascinates me is how 52 year old coins are still circulating in Australia, you guys badly need to update your small coins. 20 cents in 1966 is worth around $3 - $4 today.

In NZ our cents coins were reduced in size and remade in 2006, with the older coins now scrap (Yet some end up in Australia1).

Most of the Pacific followed suit after NZ, yet Australia holds on to its 1960s coinage.