This article is the halfway mark of a series of articles on Australian pre decimal coinage. So far I have found it interesting doing the research for these articles. I hope you find the information presented interesting and useful in you hobby.
The sixpence does not have the history of many other pre decimal denominations as the coin was not first struck until the mid 16th century. This does not stop the fact that this coin was probably the most popular coin issued.
The first sixpence was struck in the reign of Edward VI in 1551. A
combination of the fact that inflation was high during Henry VIII reign and
Henry VIII had debased the coinage of the time thoroughly, early in Edward's
reign, it was planned to reform the coinage. In the last issue of his reign,
coins with high silver content were issued with the aim of revitalizing the
economy, the sixpence being a new denomination. It may have been issued because
some of the older base silver coins would have been trading at below their face
value. In fact some high value coinage my have been devalued to the sixpence
value because of their low silver content.
An interesting oversight was made in 1887 with the issue of the new coin types for Queen Victoria's golden jubilee. The half sovereign and the sixpence shared the same reverse design. It did not take long for some opportunists to realized that by gilding sixpences, they could easily be passed off as half sovereigns. This type with a quartered shield in garter was hastily withdrawn, and became known as the "withdrawn" type. A quick re-design took place, reverting to a design similar to the previous type, with the value "SIX PENCE" crowned within a wreath. Not many of these coins made it to the colonies, including Australia, as all were released in Britain.
British sixpence proved to be popular until killed off by decimalisation. The last sixpence minted for circulation in Britain was dated 1967, and a special proof version struck for inclusion in the farewell proof set of 1970. In Britain there was an energetic campaign during the late 1960's by a popular coin magazine to keep the sixpence. Some of the major press also got in on the act to "save our sixpence". S.O.S. car stickers were commonplace in Britain.
The first Australian grown sixpence was issued in 1910. Like all early silver
coins, the sixpence was struck in London from 1910 to 1914. The rest of the
sixpence series was minted in Australia except for the 1942 to 1944 years, where
Australia got some help from the USA during the war, and 1951 where about two
thirds of the coins issued were minted in London.
The Australian sixpence series went relatively unchanged, except for monarch changes, through its' 56 year existence. It was reported in 1938 in the Sydney Morning Herald that the coin was to under a change, but this never happened. The popularity of the sixpence in Australia can be seen by the relatively small number of coins available in good condition. The sixpence was seen as the working mans coin. It was used in parking meters and old gas and electricity meters which were not very "coin friendly". The sixpence can be likened to the current day dollar coin in that it is probably the most used of all Australian coinage.
The sixpence series is not a particularly hard series to complete in lower grades. The 1918 coin is probably the hardest to find but it is still relatively cheap at under $35 for a VG grade coin. As higher grade coins are harder to come by, a nice set if coins in uncirculated condition are a bit harder to come by then coins from other series, particularly considering the mintage of some of these coins. If you are a collector and like uniformity in your coins this series is definitely for you as all coins carry basically the same reverse. If you do not like this in your coins the series is still a good one to collect to complete your pre decimal collection.
References
Coins of England and Great Britain http://www.tclayton.demon.co.uk/onesh.html
Guy Clarke Ancient Coins http://www.ancient-art.com/medieval.htm
McDonald G, Collecting and Investing in Australian Coins and Banknotes, 2nd Ed. (Sydney: 1991).
Myatt B & Hanley T, Australian Coins, Notes and Medals, Castle Books (Melbourne: 1982).
Robert G Lilley Ancient and Medieval Coins http://www.newwave.net/~lilcoins
Wikipedia http://www.wikipedia.org
Last month saw the unveiling of the 2004 release calendar by the Royal
Australian Mint. The calendar has its' usual suspects - The $1 Kangaroo, the
mint marked $1 coins, a subscription coin and the 2004 proof set. The 2004 proof
set offers a first for the mint. It has the first hologram coin ever placed in a
proof set.
When looking on the RAM forum over the last few months there has been a call by a select few to reintroduce the 5 kangaroos back in the $1 coin. This call has been answered by the mint. It has also continued with it's theme of recent years of doing something a little different to the $1 coin in the proof set that the uncirculated set does not offer. In the past it has been colored coins. This year it is a hologram coin. I admit I am a sucker for a nice coin and I consider proof sets, in general, to be very nice - so much so I own most of the decimal proof sets. I however am not a great fan of this set. In saying that I do not want to discourage a collector from buying it (I already have my own), as, like most modern day proof sets (ie from 1990 onwards) it will most likely increase above issue price.
One interesting piece of gossip I have heard from two dealers is that at the moment there is a slight shortage of these sets. Apparently the mint has had some trouble either with the hologram coin or to do with the plastic case and the hologram coin. Because of this they have been in a situation where they have had to redo some sets causing a delay in supply. Now I do not know if this is fact or fiction but it could be worth keeping a lookout for an error set.