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.

[JeffH]

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

As a regular visitor to Fiji I can confirm that the smaller, steel cored coins keep good condition in the hot and humid climate much longer than the older copper based alloy coins.
My understanding is the Royal Australian Mint was not prepared to pay a licensing fee to use the technology and instead ended up in a legal tangle by trying to circumvent the Canadian Multi-Ply Plated Steel technology patents. Does anyone have details about this or am I dreaming?

[Mister T]

I thought the Royal Canadian Mint sued the Royal Australian Mint for colouring coins. Maybe there was a separate case about the steel coated coins too?

[Tanecoins]

All is not well in the mints of Canberra, is Canada keeping Australia locked in the past. I never knew the Canadians had a monopoly on coloured circulation coins. Their first circulation one I think was a quarter in 2004 and the first coloured $2 piece in Australia was 2012's Red Poppy, now a scarce collector's piece.

But there were coloured NCLT coins as far back as the 1990s and even 1980s I think.

[fred lever]

Um, i thought this thread was about the 1966 wavey?
Some more of you guys must have 66 waveys and some comment to Dazzle about the variety and his article.

Dazzle has piqued me a bit and I'm going to have another look at my examples and have a rethink about how the bungle on the die occurred.
About the die failing , well that's a separate issue and needs a lot of samples and close examination.

There is always new stuff to find!

Fred.