? The Royal Australian Mint has produced a silver kangaroo piece every year since 1993. This was the third curpro-nickel piece minted as part of the series. It was produced to provide a more affordable entry point to for collectors who appreciated the designs. The reverse was designed by the iconic Australian artist Ken Done and features a kangaroo against the backdrop of Uluru and the surrounding desert with the denomination
? This commemorative coin celebrates the role played by the steam train as a form of transportation that opened up possibilities and opportunities for the continued development of Australia as a nation. It is a five dollar proof coin struck into sterling silver by the Royal Australian Mint. The steam train coin is one from a set of five that makes up the Masterpieces in Silver collection named 'Opening of the Continent.' Each coin represents a different ...
?Image from: A.H. Baldwin & Sons Ltd . ictoria, Sovereign, 1862, Arabic 1 over an inverted Arabic 1. 'Auction 73 8 May 2012'. Retrieved from https://www.numisbids.com/n.php?p=lot&sid=290&lot=92
? The Sydney mint reverted to the Imperial St George and Shield designs in 1871 with the Shield design intended for export to other colonies. The fourth reverse design features a short length tail as opposed to the long tail used since 1871 and the medium tail used since 1874 as in the illustration below: This type differs from the other St George reverse designs by having a wider truncation at the base of the bust of her Majesty Queen Victoria. The origin mint of this issue can be determined ...
? The 1856 Alternate Reverse Half Sovereign, first identified in a Spink Auction in 1981 but incorrectly attributed as having the 1853 pattern reverse is one of the more interesting varieties to come out of the early days of the Sydney mint. Its origin and purpose is a mystery but given the Sydney mint's constant shortage of dies as evidenced by the amount of tooling done to extend their working life in many of the early years, it is likely ...