1934 Half Penny

The 1934 half penny is one of the more common dates in the series but one should not underestimate how difficult the coin is to acquire in MS64 and higher. The coin typically suffers from

Surface hairlines

Fine surface marks caused by other coins scraping against them

 

surface hairlines which tend to preclude higher gradings and it is the only year of the 1930s that is occasionally struck up with missing detail. The cause here isn't a weak strike however, but rather from details being polished off the

Die

A cylindrical punch with an inverted impression of a coin's design used to strike the coin

 

dies.

Missing detail on a 1934 half penny

The reason for this exception is because in 1934, the Melbourne

Mint

a facility that produces coins

 

mint for the first time began to mass produce

Commercial proof

A proof coin produced with the intention of being sold to the general public

 

commercial proofs - this required the repeated polishing of the

Die

A cylindrical punch with an inverted impression of a coin's design used to strike the coin

 

dies resulting in the eventual erosion of detail. By the time these

Die

A cylindrical punch with an inverted impression of a coin's design used to strike the coin

 

dies had finished producing the

Proof

A coin struck from specially prepared dies to strike a superior quality coin not intended for circulation

 

proof strikes and were sent to work on the standard production line, they had lost much of their finer detail, which shows on the circulation strikes.

The date can at times also suffer from a soft N of ONE in the form of a

Central strike weakness

A weak strike around the centre of the design caused by a lack of concavity in the dies relative to strike pressure.

 

central strike weakness displaced upwards as typical for George V half pennies due to the uneven distribution of metal of the

Obverse

The heads side of the coin

 

obverse design.

Soft N of ONE

This is caused by the lack of concavity in the

Proof

A coin struck from specially prepared dies to strike a superior quality coin not intended for circulation

 

proof

Die

A cylindrical punch with an inverted impression of a coin's design used to strike the coin

 

die needed to produce

Mirror finish

The state of a coin finished with a naturally reflective appearance

 

mirror finish of the

Proof

A coin struck from specially prepared dies to strike a superior quality coin not intended for circulation

 

proof strike being paired with the low pressure standard production line.

In 1934 the Melbourne

Mint

a facility that produces coins

 

mint also produced the first

Commercial proof

A proof coin produced with the intention of being sold to the general public

 

commercial proof half penny (Learn more about the 1934 Proof Half Penny).

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